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LIBRARY 

OF  THE  ,. 

University  of  California. 


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Class 


.oe  XHntvereit^  ot  Cbtcago 

FOUNDED  BY  JOHN  D.  ROCKEFELLER 


KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL 

A   COMPARATIVE   STUDY 

The  Novels 


A    DISSERTATION    SUBMITTED    TO    THE    FACULTIES    OF 

THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  ARTS,  LITERATURE, 

AND    SCIENCE    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY  OF 

CHICAGO  IN  CANDIDACY  FOR  THE 

DEGREE    OF    DOCTOR    OF 

PHILOSOPHY 


(DEPARTMENT  OF  GERMANIC  LANOUAOES  AND  LITERATURE ) 


BY 

HENRIETTA  K.    BECKER 
T  i  R  A  /T 

or  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

CHICAGO 

SCOTT,   PORESMAN  AND    COMPANY 

1904 


MARSH,    AITKEN    &    CURTIS    COMPANY,    PRINTERS,    CHICAGO. 


B39S 


I  desire  to  express  my  appreciation  and  gratitude  to  my  teacher, 
Professor  Camillo  von  Klenze,  for  his  valuable  aid  and  inspiration  in 
the  preparation  of  this  work.  I  further  owe  thanks  to  Professors  Starr 
Willard  Cutting  and  Philip  Schuyler  Allen,  as  well  as  to  Dr.  Martin 
Schiitze,  all  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  for  suggestions  and  material. 


;  i    « 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 7 

I.  EXTERNAL  EVIDENCE  OF  INFLUENCE 9 

//.  INNER  FORM 14 

Compactness  of  Structure 14 

Concentration  upon  Hero 22 

Objectivity  of  Treatment 26 

Content — Psychological — How       Carried       Out — Nature      of 

Hero 30 

///.  OUTER   FORM 42 

Description 42 

External  Nature 47 

Figures  of  Speech 51 

Dialogue 54 

Dramatic  Pause 57 

Favorite  Motifs 60 

Summary 65 

IV.  BOOKS  AND  ARTICLES  QUOTED 69 


or  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

INTRODUCTION 

The  close  affinity  between  Kleist  and  Hebbel  as  shown  by  their  lives 
and  their  works  has  been  stated  in  general  terms  by  every  literary  his- 
torian who  has  studied  either  of  the  poets.  Heine  with  his  intuitive 
insight  was  the  first  to  recognize  the  similarity.  He  expressed  it  in  the 
introduction  to  the  French  edition  of  his  work,  "Ueber  Deutschland."  * 
Adolf  Wilbrandt,  Kleist's  first  biographer,  remarked  on  Kleist's  influ- 
ence on  the  generation  of  poets  that  succeeded  him.^  More  specific  are 
the  words  of  Friedmann,'  who  speaks  of  the  new  dramatic  tendencies 
called  into  life  by  Kleist  and  developed  by  Hebbel,  Grabbe,  and  Ludwig. 
Minde-Ponet*  remarks  briefly  at  the  close  of  his  study  on  Kleist's  epic 
style:  *'  Als  Nachfolger  Kleists  in  der  Art  der  epischen  Erzahlnng 
konnten  nur  zwei  gelten :  F.  Hebbel,  dieser  f eurige  Verehrer  unseres 
Dichters,  und  F.  Halm."  Kuh^  quotes  Kopke,  the  Tieck  scholar,  as 
writing  to  him  concerning  Hebbel:  ''Vielleicht  derjenige,  der  sich  am 
nachsten  an  H.  Kleist  anschliesst,  weil  er,  wie  dieser,  jenes  nationals 
Drama  anstrebte,  das  in  der  Mitte  stehen  muss,  zwischen  Goethe  und 
Schiller,  indem  sich  der  Gegensatz  zwischen  Idealismus  und  Realismus 
in  vollen  Gestalten  aufhebt."  Hebbel  ranked  himself  with  Kleist  in 
the  estimation  of  his  genius:  "In  der  Halle  der  Litteratur  werde  ich 
nicht  zu  finden  sein,  doch  eine  Nische  neben  der  Kleists  und  Grillparzers 
wird  mir  nicht  versagt  werden.  "^ 

An  investigation  of  the  extent  to  which  this  similarity  is  apparent 
in  the  works  of  the  two  artists  seems  not  without  importance,  since 
Kleist  and  Hebbel  not  only  stand  out  distinctly  from  their  contem- 

^Cf.  Kuh,  Hebbel,  II,  118.  ^h.  von  Kleist,  421. 

3  Das  deutsche  Drama  des  19.  Jhrh.,  102. 

*Sprache  u.  Stil,  95.  "Kuh,  Hebbel,  II,  442. 

»  Kuh,  Hebbel,  II,  669.  Cf.  also  letter  to  Schloenbach  of  May,  1855  (publ.  first  in  Euph.  V, 
722,  by  Loeflaer),  in  which  he  speaks  of  Kleist  and  Grillparzer  as  the  two  "denen  ich  nicht  zu 
nahe  zu  treten  wiinschte."  Cf.  also  Bartels,  "Der  Sieg  Hebbels"  (Dtsch.  Monatsschrift,  II,  1); 
Harden  (Zukunft,  XV,  87);  Lemraermeyer,  "Holtei  und  Hebbel"  (D.  R.  IV,  319);  Lublinski 
(Litt.  d.  Gegenwart,  III,  744);  Jahn  ("Zum  90.  Geburtstag,"  p.  17);  Bamberg,  AUg.  dtsch. 
Biogr. ;   Biographies  of  Kleist  and  Hebbel. 

7 


8  INTRODUCTION 

poraries,  but  bear  in  their  works  germs  of  several  new  phases  in 
literature  that  have  come  into  a  fuller  bloom  only  within  modern 
times.  The  following  pages  deal  with  the  narrative  prose  of  the  two 
writers  which  has  as  yet  received  but  scant  attention.^ 

» As  originally  planned,  this  investigation  was  to  include  the  dramas  as  well  as  the  novels 
of  Kleist  and  Hebbel.  But  during  the  process,  the  material  for  the  second  part  grew  to  such 
dimensions  that  it  became  necessary  to  make  of  it  a  separate  treatise.  In  the  light  recently 
shed  upon  the  dramas  by  Scheunert,  Schwerin,  Georgy,  Lex,  and  others,  I  hope  to  be  able  to 
show  in  detail  that  Hebbel,  carrying  out  the  art-ideals  of  Kleist,  became  the  hyphen  between 
Schiller  and  Ibsen. 


EXTERNAL  EVIDENCE  OF  INFLUENCE 

The  external  evidence  of  Hebbel's  knowledge  of  Kleist  and  his 
admiring  appreciation  of  his  works  is  derived  from  HebbePs  own  words 
in  his  diaries  and  letters/  Between  the  lives  of  the  two  men  but  a 
short  space  of  time  intervened.  Kleist  died  in  1811,  Hebbel  was  born 
in  1813.  Kleist  at  his  death  was  well-nigh  unknown,  his  works  were 
largely  unpublished,  his  dramas  had  not  been  acted.  During  Hebbel's 
youth  there  came  a  revival.  In  1821  Tieck  published  a  selection  of 
Kleist's  dramas  and  all  of  the  novels,  and  called  attention  to  the 
neglected  author  in  an  appreciative  introduction.  In  1846  appeared  a 
more  nearly  complete  edition,  with  a  fuller  introduction  by  Julian 
Schmidt.  In  1848  Biilow  published  a  volume  of  Kleist's  Life  and 
Letters,  and  a  few  months  before  Hebbel's  death  (1863)  Wilbrandt 
gave  to  the  public  the  first  thorough  and  reliable  Kleist  biography. 
Passages  from  Hebbel's  diaries  and  letters  show  that  he  read  Kleist's 
works  and  life  with  avidity.  More  than  thirty  times  he  mentions 
Kleist  in  these  intimate  confessions.  Three  detailed  criticisms:  "Ueber 
Theodor  Korner"  (1835),  "Kathchen  von  Heilbronn"  (1848),  "Prinz 
von  Homburg"  (1849),^  show  the  care  with  which  he  studied  his  works. 
A  sonnet  written  in  1841  voices  his  high  appreciation.^  Admiration 
for  Kleist  on  the  part  of  a  new  acquaintance  was  a  sure  passport  to  his 
respect  and  interest.  An  expression  of  this  character  found  in  the 
works  of  Feuchtersleben  so  convinced  him  of  this  writer's  worth  that 
he  consented  to  undertake  the  editing  of  his  works.*  Heine  also  won 
his  admiration  through  his  just  estimate  of  Kleist.^ 

In  his  views  on  Kleist,  Hebbel  underwent  an  interesting  evolution. 

*  In  the  references,  Bamberg's  edition  of  the  diaries  and  letters  is  used. 
'  The  references  to  Hebbel's  works  are  to  the  new  critical  edition  of  R.  M.  Werner. 
3Cf.  Werner,  Wks.,  IX,  180.  ^Cf.  Kuh,  Hebbel,  II,  496.  »Br.  I,  169. 

9 


10  KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL 

In  the  early  part  of  his  career,  he  admires  him  enthusiastically  and 
uncritically.  The  article  of  1835,^  which  he  read  hefore  a  literary 
society  in  Hamburg,  is  an  uiieqniYocal  eulogy.  A  youthful  tendency 
toward  strong  contrasts  appears  in  the  following:  "Wahrend  der  erste 
von  Beiden,  Heinrich  von  Kleist,  Alles  hat,  was  den  grossen  Dichter 
und  zugleich  den  echten  Deutschen  macht,  ist  der  Andere,  Theodor 
Korner,  bloss  dafiir  ergliiht"  (p.  31).  Kleist's  prose  tales  he  classes  as 
the  best  that  German  literature  has  produced  (p.  58),  and  of  his 
"Homburg"  he  speaks  with  unstinted  praise  (p.  39  ff.),  a  judgment 
which  he  sees  fit  to  modify  later  on.  This  article  shows,  in  spite  of 
much  that  is  immature  both  in  thought  and  in  style,  that  the  twenty- 
two-year-old  writer,  fresh  from  the  seclusion  of  the  Ditmarsh  village,  had 
thought  carefully  on  the  nature  of  the  various  forms  of  literature:  the 
drama,  the  lyric,  and  the  novel.  It  shows  also  that  he  found  his 
theories  in  accordance  with  the  practice  of  Kleist.  Significant  for  the 
man  is  the  originality  and  the  daring  with  which  he  champions  the  elder 
poet  against  the  almost  universally  unfavorable  estimation  in  which  he 
was  held.  The  acumen  of  the  youthful  critic,  who  could  thus  dis- 
tinguish between  the  glittering  rhetoric  of  the  popular  hero  and  the 
intrinsic  value  of  the  unknown  writer,  is  as  significant  as  is  the  instinctive 
attraction  which  he  here  evinces  for  the  nature  and  genius  of  the  writer 
with  whom  he  had  so  much  in  common.^  During  his  early  years,  it  is 
the  virile  force  of  Kleist's  works  that  calls  forth  his  highest  admiration.^ 
He  prefers  Kleist  to  Tieck  because  the  art  of  the  former  in  its  incom- 
pleteness opens  up  an  endless  perspective.*  He  names  Kleist  in  the 
same  breath  with  Shakspere,  Goethe,  Byron. '^  In  1838  he  praises 
Kleist's  Kathchen  as  the  expression  of  the  purest,  most  genuine  woman- 
hood.® "Der  zerbrochene  Krug"  appears  to  him  to  be  the  first  German 
comedy.'^  In  1839  his  praise  culminates  when  he  places  Kleist's 
"Erziihlungen"  beside  Goethe's  "Ottilie,"  because  of  the  power  of  both 
poets  "Seelenereignisse  und  Geistesrevolutionen  ohne  Zergliederung  und 
Beschwiitzung  unmittelbar  durch  das  Thun  und  Leiden  des  Menschen 
zu  zeichnen."*  During  this  period  he  defends  Kleist  against  all 
criticism.  In  1837  he  tries  to  refute  Goethe's  objection  to  the 
"exceptional"   character   of    Michael    Kohlhaas.^     In    1838    he    finds 

^  Ueber  Theodor  |K5rner  und  Heinrich  von  Kleist.     Cf.  Wks.  IX,  31  ff.      Cf.  AUgemeine 
Zeitung,  Beilage,  1882,  p.  4313. 
2  Cf.  Wks.  IX,  p.  xiv  ff. 

3Tb.  I,  159.     In  1839  he  writes:   "Kleists  Arbeiten  starren  von  Leben." 
♦Tb.  I,  92.  6 Br.  I,  189;    I,  45,  81.  «Br.  I,  81. 

^Br.KI,  66,  441.  ^xb.  I,  155.  »Tb.  I,  60. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  11 

valuable  psychological  motivation  in  "Die  Familie  Schroffenstein"^  and 
in  *'Der  Prinz  von  Homburg."^ 

As  time  went  on  bis  early  enthusiasm  underwent  some  modification. 
His  own  careful  reflections  on  literary  form  led  him  to  apply  a  more 
searching  criticism  to  what  he  once  had  admired  without  question.  As 
late  as  1843  he  was  embittered  by  Goethe's  harsh  condemnation  of 
Kleist;'  in  1847  he  judges  more  calmly.*  It  was  after  he  had  com- 
pleted his  thirtieth  year  that  Hebbel  became  more  critical  of  Kleist. 
In  1844  he  compares  Kleist  with  Shakspere  and  finds  that  the  former 
did  not  deal  sufficiently  with  the  "realities"  that  are  alone  of  lasting 
value  to  the  world. ^  In  1859  he  is  inclined  to  think  Kleist  extreme  in 
his  detailed  psychological  treatment,"  and  in  1861  he  condemns  the 
mysticism  of  "Kathchen  von  Ileilbronn"  as  foreign  and  fantastic 
when  compared  with  such  truly  mystic  coloring  as  we  find  in  Shak- 
spere's  "Tempest.'"  In  the  article  "Prinz  von  Homburg"  (1849)  he 
still  praises  with  fervor  the  careful  psychology  with  which  the  gradual 
evolution  and  maturing  of  character  is  traced.  But  he  now  condemns 
the  sleep-w^alking  scene  which  he  had  praised  so  ardently  in  the  article 
of  1835. 

As  a  summary  as  well  as  a  commentary  on  the  modification  of  his 
views,  the  last  reference  to  Kleist  in  the  letters  will  serve.  Wilbrandt's 
Life  of  Kleist,  with  its  quotations  from  the  "Letters,"  cast  a  vivid 
light  back  on  Hebbel's  own  life  and  showed  him  again  the  similarity  of 
his  own  state  of  mind  to  many  a  despairing  cry  of  Kleist's,  but  it 
showed  him  also  the  greater  maturity  in  self-knowledge  to  which  he, 
Hebbel,  had  attained.* 

It  becomes  evident  from  these  passages  that,  while  in  early  years  he 
had  been  carried  away  by  the  virility  and  dramatic  power  of  Kleist, 
later  in  life  his  own  careful  investigations  into  the  nature  and  laws  of 
form^  rendered  him  sensitive  to  his  favorite's  shortcomings.  However, 
Hebbel  never  lost  his  admiration  for  the  genius  of  his  predecessor.  In 
1847  he  wrote  to  Bamberg^^  advising  him  to  turn  his  critical  talent  to 
"Work en  von  entschiedener  Bedeutung  und  abgemachtem  historischem 
Worth,  .   .   .   wenn  Sie  z.  B.  Heinrich  von  Kleist  vornehmen,  liber  den 

^Tb.  I,  107.  2  Tb.  I,  101.  3  Br.  I,  154. 

4  Br.  I,  293.  6  Tb.  II,  108.  eTb.  II,  466. 

'Tb.  II,  509.  Cf.  also  Tb.  II,  130-3,  and  Wks.  XII,  270  ff.,  for  criticisms  on  the  "unreali- 
ties" of  "Kathchen." 

8,Br.  II,  525. 

9Cf.  Schwerin,  Hebbels  tragische  Theorie;  Aleskiewicz,  Hebbels  aesthetische  Ansichten; 
Scheunert,  Der  Pantragismus,  etc. 

"Br.  I.  273. 


12  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

ich  alles  geschrieben  haben  mochte,  was  ich  leider  nur  noch  gesprocben 
babe,  iind  iiber  den  sicb  unendlich  viel  sagen  lasst,  sowobl  im  positiven 
als  im  negativen  Sinn."  After  tbe  criticism  of  "Katbchen  von 
Heilbronn"  be  adds  tbat  Kleist's  migbty  genius  probibits  any  apolo- 
getical  praise.  Kleist  seems  to  bim  great  as  tbe  elemental  forces  of 
nature  are  great,  wbicb  it  is  mere  presumption  to  laud.^ 

Tbree  times  Hebbel  acknowledges  direct  influence  on  the  part  of 
Kleist.  In  1853  be  traces  bis  "Scbon  Hedwig"  to  Kleist's  "Katbcben" 
as  source;*  in  1837  be  writes  to  Elise  Lensing  of  tbe  inspiration  wbicb 
be  derived  from  Kleist's  "Erzablungen,"'  and  finally  in  1855,  as  be 
looks  back  over  bis  life  and  productivity:  **Aucb  recbne  icb  mir  die 
Verwandtscbaft  mit  Kleist  nur  zur  Ebre  an.  .  .  .  Kleist  bat  sogar 
direkt  auf  micb  gewirkt,  wenn  aucb  nicbt  auf  meine  Dramen,  sondern 
auf  meine  Erzablungen.  "* 

It  is  seldom  tbat  an  autbor  makes  so  direct  an  acknowledgment  to 
tbe  influence  of  anotber.  Certain  points  of  coincidence  in  place  of 
birtb  and  circumstance  of  life  doubtless  account  for  some  of  tbe 
similarity  of  temperament,  and  rendered  Hebbel  more  impressionable  to 
Kleist's  influence.  Botb  were  Nortb  Germans  witb  many  of  tbe 
cbaracteristics  of  tbeir  birtb  place.  Wbat  Klaus  Grotb  wrote  to  Hebbel, 
September,  1857,^  may  well  be  applied  to  Hebbel  and  Kleist:  "Der 
Ernst,  die  Einsamkeit,  das  Griibeln,  Drang  und  Ringen  nacb 
Wabrbeit,  Treue — diese  scbaffenden  Prinzipien  in  Ibnen  erscbienen  mir; 
sie  liessen  micb  empfinden,  dass  sie  ein  Norddeutscber  sind,  die 
Verwandtscbaft  im  Streben  mabnte  micb  um  so  mehr,  Ibnen  ein  Zeicben 
zu  geben,  dass  sie  im  Vaterland  erkannt  sind." 

Herman  Grimm  in  bis  essay  "Heinricb  von  Kleists  Grabstatte" 
sbows  witb  sympatbetic  insigbt  tbe  peculiarities  of  style  wbicb  Kleist 
owed  to  bis  northern  birtb:  *' Kleists  Sprache  bat  das  Scbarfe,  ironiscb 
GebaltvoUe,  das  beute  nocb  die  beste  Seite  der  Berliner  Bildung  ist. 

»Tb.  II,  133.  "Br.  I,  412.  sBr.  I,  64. 

*  Br.  II,  214.  Further  references  to  Kleist,  not  in  themselves  important,  but  serving  to 
show  how  constantly  Hebbel  thought  of  Kleist  and  how  familiar  he  was  with  his  works,  are 
as  follows:  Br.  1,81,  he  compares  K.'s  "Kathchen"with  Halm's  "Griseldis,"  calling  Kleist  "den 
gewaltigen,  herrlichen,  ungliicklichen,"  and  praising  his  drama  because  the  conflict  lay  within 
and  not  without  as  in  the  case  of  Halm's;  Tb.  II,  280,  he  feels  stimulated  to  take  up  the  idea 
of  love  as  portrayed  in  "Kathchen"  and  carry  it  out  consistently;  Tb.  I,  103,  he  thinks  of 
treating  the  story  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans  in  a  novel  "a  la  Kleist";  Tb.  I,  241,  he  compares 
Kleist's  "Toni"  with  Bulwer's  "Ernest  Maltravers,"  calling  the  former  a  work  of  genius,  the 
latter  one  of  talent;  Tb.  II,  272,  he  speaks  of  Julian  Schmidt's  ranking  him  "sehr  hoch,  iiber 
Kleist  hinaus";  Tb.  II,  310,  he  sympathizes  with  Kleist's  sensitiveness  to  criticism;  Br.  II,  311, 
he  speaks  of  the  interest  with  which  he  read  Billow's  Life  of  Kleist;  Br.  II,  488,  he  recollects 
Kleist's  last  words. 

*  Br.  II,  454.     Cf.  also  Zeiss.  Intr.  to  Works,  I,  272. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  13 

Lessing  erwarb  es  erst  bei  uns,  Kleist  besass  es  von  Natur.  Seine 
Satze,  auch  wenn  er  die  kunstvollsten  Perioden  zu  bauen  versteht,  .  .  . 
brechen  eben  so  gern  kurz  ab,  seine  Gedanken  bediirfen  weniger  Worte, 
er  zeichnet  mit  entschiedenen  Umrissen  und  malt  mit  triiben  aber 
genau  wahrhaftigen  Farben."^  Grimm  dwells  on  the  fact  that  few  of 
Germany's  great  poets  had  come  from  the  North:  '*Nur  Achim  von 
Arnim  ware  hier  noch  neben  ihm  (Kleist)  zu  nennen."  It  is  sadly 
significant  that  Hebbel,  whose  best  works  with  the  exception  of 
**Nibelungen"  and  '* Demetrius"  were  at  that  time  (1862)  before  the 
public,  does  not  occur  to  this  contemporary  critic  in  the  enumeration 
of  great  North-German  writers.  So  much  like  Kleist's  fate  was 
Hebbel's  during  his  lifetime. 

A  glance  over  this  material  shows  that  from  Hebbel's  own  words 
we  learn  1)  that  Kleist  made  a  deep  impression  on  him  in  the  forma- 
tive period  of  his  life,  2)  that,  although  the  uncritical  admiration  of 
his  youth  was  modified  in  later  years,  he  never  lost  his  sincere 
admiration  for  the  older  poet's  genius  and  freely  confessed  his  influence, 
3)  that  the  points  in  which  Kleist  attracted  him  were :  the  force  and 
vividness  of  his  conceptions,  the  compactness  and  concentration  of  his 
form  and  the  penetration  of  his  psychological  insight.  This  shows  at 
once  Hebbel's  own  natural  bent  and  the  lines  on  which  we  may  look 
for  Kleist's  influence  on  his  productions. 

*  Published  first  in  "  Vossische  Ztg."  Feb.  23, 1862,  later  incorporated  in  "Fiinfzehn  Essays," 
316. 


V 


II 

INNER  FORM 

COMPACTi^ESS    OF   STRUCTURE 

Since  the  most  pregnant  references  to  Kleist  on  the  part  of  Hebbel 
occur  between  1830  and  1850,  that  is,  during  the  time  that  Hebbel 
wrote  his  stories,  it  is  during  this  period  that  we  should  expect  to  find 
the  most  direct  influence. 

^  VV  hen  Kleist  turned  to  novel  writing  after  having  proved  his  talent 
in  the  drama,  he  seized  instinctively  upon  the  short  story  as  the  form 
that  lends  itself  most  readily  to  dramatic  treatment.  At  the  time  when 
he  began  his  tales  (1805)  this  form  of  literature  was  entering  upon  a 
period  of  great  activity.  The  Romanticists  found  in  the  short  story  a 
vehicle  well  adapted  to  their  needs,  requiring  neither  sustained  effort 
nor  strenuous  concentration,  but  giving  scope  to  lyric  outpouring  and 
the  depictment  of  human  action.  The  sentimentally  mystic  found 
beautiful  lyric  utterance  in  Tieck's  stories;  the  grotesquely  mysterious 
was  rendered  with  astonishing  realism  in  the  tales  of  Hoffmann; 
Fouque,  Arnim,  and  Brentano  evoked  the  spirit  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
All  unite  in  the  effort  to  create  an  atmosphere  ("Stimmung"),  rather 
than  to  narrate  facts  or  develop  character. 

Diametrically  opposite  in  aim  were  the  productions  of  the  school  of 
Weber,  Spiess,  Cramer,  Vulpius,  who  with  ruder  weapons  and  coarser 
motives  were  pouring  forth  in  rough  narrative  the  contents  of  the  old 
"Ritterdrama."  Here  all  the  interest  centers  on  the  outward  action, 
which,  however  rude,  is  not  without  dramatic  power. ^ 

Far  more  important  is  the  species  of  short  story  called  into  life  by 
Goethe's  "Unterhaltungen  deutscher  Ausgewanderten, "  which  Meyer^ 

'Cf.  MUUer-Fraureuth,  Ritter-  und  Rauberromane,  8  ff. 
»R.  M.  Meyer,  Goethe,  266. 

14 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  15 

calls  an  epic  drama.  This  formed  the  first  important  step  in  the 
direction  in  which  Kleist  was  to  find  the  goal  of  his  prose  style.  Here 
the  development  of  character  under  the  stress  of  circumstances  is  the 
center  of  interest ;  the  conflicts  are  brought  about  by  inherent  differences 
of  temperament,  and  the  form  is  fairly  compact.^ 

Examining  the  tales  of  Kleist,  we  find  him  not  uninfluenced  by  these 
currents.  The  startling  paradox  in  the  introductory  paragraph  of 
*' Michael  Kohlhaas,"  in  which  the  hero  is  called  "einer  der  recht- 
schaffensten  zugleich  und  entsetzlichsten  Menschen  seiner  Zeit,"  and 
in  which  the  problem  is  summed  up  in  the  words:  "Das  Kechtgefuhl 
machte  ihn  aber  zum  Eiiuber  und  Morder,"  is  a  reminiscence  of  the 
*'Eauberromane"  so  popular  at  the  time.^  Kleist's  "Erdbeben" 
and  "Verlobung"  display  in  their  setting  the  prevalent  taste  for 
tropical  lands- and  semi-barbarous  people.  But  it  is  to  be  noted  that 
Kleist  surrounds  his  idyllic  heroes  with  a  most  realistic  world  in  the 
negro  uprising  and  in  the  fanatical  mob.  In  this  he  differs  essentially 
from  such  purely  sentimental  productions  as  St.  Pierre's  *'Paul  et 
Virginie"  or  Chateaubriand's  *'Atala"  and  their  numerous  imitators, 
who  all  painted  the  innocent  foreigner  as  pure  and  gentle  until  con- 
taminated by  the  effete  civilization  of  Europe.  On  the  other  hand; 
while  the  tales  of  Arnim,  Brentano,  Fouque  and  Hoffmann  have  romantic 
mysticism  for  their  chief  content,  those  of  Kleist  display  it  but  rarely. 
In  "Kohlhaas"  the  witch-like  figure  of  the  gypsy,  with  the  traditional 
accompaniments  of  prophetic  warnings,  mysterious  meetings,  and 
supernatural  appearances,  is  but  a  foreign  element  in  the  otherwise 
strictly  realistic  story.'  In  the  rest  of  the  earlier  an<l  TH^^^  ^•Tnpnr^,f^T^f^ 
stories,  mysticism  does  not  enter  at  all,  appearing  again  only  in  the 
stories  of  the  last  year  of  his  productivity,  when,  under  the  influence  ol 
the  Romantic  school,  he  wrote  "Cacilie,"  "Bettlerin"  and  "Zwei- 
kampf."*  The  last  named  contains,  also,  much  of  the  stock  in  trade 
of  the  romantic  "Ritterroman,"  the  assault  on  a  fair  lady,  the 
champion  knight,  the  trial  by  combat,  the  recognition  by  a  ring, 
etc.,  etc. 

But  the  method  which  Kleist  adopted  and  developed  with  a  force 

»  Cf.  Fiirst,  Vorlaufer,  189  ff. 

''Cf.  MiJUer-Fraureuth,  1.  c,  37  ff.  Also  Holzgraefe,  "Schillersche  EinfliJsse  bei  Heinrich 
von  Kleist"  for  a  reference  to  similarity  of  conception  in  "Michael  Kohlhaas"  and  "Verbrecher 
aus  verlorener  Ehre." 

^Pniower  (Michael  Kohlhaas,  325  ff.)  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  Kleist  found  the 
mysticism  in  his  sources. 

*Cf,  Steig's  "Berliner  Kampfe,"  536  ff.  Note  also  the  praise  accorded  the  mysticism  of 
"Bettelweib"  in  Hoffmann's  "Serapionsbriider"   (Ed.  of  1871,  Vol.  IV,  182  ff.). 


V; 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

and  originality  that  mark  him  as  the  pioneer  of  a  new  movement,  is 
that  which  we  find  indicated  in  Goethe's  "Werther"  and  *'Unter- 
haltungen."  It  Js  th^  s^lTITlff  trf  r  piynlinlPr'^^-'  T^Pfr^^^i  t'h]*"^^^^  ^ 
n^iirative  form  thaf,  apprnfl-ohea  nlosply  f,^  ^Tiq  ^rQTnnfir>  A  careful 
analysis  of  Kleist's  tales  reveals  a  structure  compactly  and  logically 
built  up  from  initial  incident  to  climax  and  catastrophe.  *'Kohlhaas" 
can  easily  be  divided  into  five  acts,  each  of  which  has  its  carefully 
prepared  climax.^  Act  I  contains,  after  the  program-like  introductory 
paragraph,  the  initial  action  of  the  young  lord's  illegal  detention  of  the 
horses,  and  closes  with  the  examination  of  Herse  and  the  determination 
of  Kohlhaas  to  obtain  legal  redress  (Zolling,  Vol.  IV,  p.  72).^  Act  II 
shows  Kohlhaas's  vain  attempts  to  obtain  justice.  These  rise  in 
regular  climax  and  culminate  in  his  determination  upon  personal 
satisfaction:  "und  mitten  durch  den  Schmerz,  die  Welt  in  einer  so 
ungeheuren  Unordnung  zu  erblicken,  zuckte  die  innerliche  Zufrie- 
denheit  empor,  seine  eigene  Brust  nunmehr  in  Ordnung  zu  sehen" 
(p.  76).  The  third  act  represents  the  culmination  of  Kohlhaas's  power. 
He  defeats  first  fifty,  then  one  hundred  fifty,  then  five  hundred  men 
in  a  pitched  battle,  and  the  Elector  is  about  to  raise  a  regiment  of  two 
thousand  men  against  him  when  the  peripetia  sets  in  by  means  of  the 
intervention  of  Luther  (p.  106).  The  fourth  act  begins  with  his  sur- 
render to  the  authorities  and  closes  with  the  unfavorable  turn  brought 
about  by  the  scene  with  the  horses  (p.  116).  The  change  here  is  very 
clearly  marked:  *'Der  Rosshandler,  dessen  Wille  durch  den  Vorfall, 
der  sich  auf  dem  Markt  zugetragen,  in  der  That  gebrochen  war,  ..." 
The  catastrophe  now  appears  near  at  hand,  but  this  last  portion  of  the 
novel  suffers  from  the  same  defects  that  we  shall  later  on  observe  in  the 
dramas :  a  confusion  of  motifs  and  the  introduction  of  startling,  foreign 
matter  which  unduly  lengthens  knd  weakens  the  close. 

Similarly  in  "Die  Verlobung,"  the  action  is  built  up  with  extreme 
regularity,  rising  from  the  initial  incident  of  Gustav's  arrival  steadily 
through  the  various  stages  by  which  Toni  is  aroused:  thoughtfulness 
and  curiosity  (p.  164),  confusion  (p.  166),  introspection  (p.  168),  and 
lastly  pity  (p.  170),  to  the  climax  of  her  complete  surrender  (p.  170). 
The  falling  action  presents  the  same  symmetry  of  structure  in  the 
narration  of  the  various  attempts  made  by  Toni  to  save  Gustav  and  his 
family:  first  by  expostulation  with  her  mother  (p.  172),  then  by  the 

*  Cf.  Gaudig,  Aus  deutschen  Lesebilchern,  5,  iv,  188  ff. 

«  The  references  to  Kleist's  works  are  from  the  edition  by  Zolling,  in  Ktirschner's  National- 
bibliothek,  of  which  Vol.  IV  contains  the  stories. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  17 

message  sent  to  the  waiting  family  (p.  176),  and  lastly  by  the  desperate 
device  of  binding  Gustav  to  his  bed  (p.  180),  which  led  to  her  death. 

In  ''Marquise  von  0."  we  have  the  technique  of  the  analytical 
drama.  We  are  at  once  introduced  to  theTalastfophe  and  gradually 
become  acquainted  with  the  previous  occurrences.  The  heart  of  the 
mjstery,  the  identity  of  the  ravish er,  is  not  revealed  by  the  author,  but 
brought  to  light  in  the  course  of  the  action.  The  climax  of  interest  is 
the  Marquise's  rise  above  the  circumstances  that  threaten  to  engulf 
her.^  The  scenes  of  the  Marquise's  conversation  with  her  physician 
(p.  33  ff.),  of  her  father's  attempt  upon  her  life,^  of  her  determined 
action  (p.  39),  of  her  meeting  with  the  count  in  the  arbor  (p.  42),  of 
the  final  discovery  of  the  real  criminal  (p.  55),  are  fraught  with  high 
dramatic  power. 

Like  "Marquise,"  "Erdbeben"  shows  many  points  of  resemblance  to 
the  analytical  drama.  The  deed  for  which  the  guilty  couple  are  about 
to  pay  the  penalty  of  their  lives  lies  in  the  past.  At  the  opening  of 
the  story  we  see  them  about  to  undergo  their  punishment,  and  the 
author  stops  only  to  give  the  briefest  possible  explanation  and  hurries 
on  to  the  events  that  first  retard,  then  hasten  the  catastrophe.  The 
culminating  point  of  the  drama  thus  becomes  the  finding  of  Josephe 
and  the  child  by  Jeronimo  (p.  5  ff.).  The  various  steps  of  the  action — 
the  earthquake,  the  flight,  the  meeting,  the  charming  idyl  in  the 
pomegranate  forest,  the  kindness  of  their  fellow-sufferers — are  but  the 
final  retarding  incidents  of  the  drama.  This  is  very  delicately  indicated 
in  the  premonitions  of  Donna  Elisabeth  (p.  10),  which  remind  us,  at 
the  moment  when  affairs  seem  to  be  taking  a  most  favorable  turn,  that 
the  catastrophe  has  but  been  postponed.^  The  steadily  increasing 
fervor  of  the  fanatical  preacher,  to  whom  the  victims  listen  as  though 
fascinated,  and  the  wild  excitement  of  the  mob,  are  very  dramatic  in 
their  portrayal.  Highly  dramatic,  also,  was  the  scene  of  Jeronimo's 
escape  from  the  ruined  city. 

^Otto  Ludwig,  in  his  treatment  of  the  same  motif,  laid  the  stress  upon  the  same  point 
(cf.  R.  M.  Meyer,  Euph.,  VII,  111),  but  carried  it  out  in  a  much  more  sentimental  fashion. 

2  Note  the  similarity  to  this  scene  of  that  in  Hebbel's  "Zitterlein,"  in  which  the  infuriated 
father  tries  to  take  Agathe's  life  (VIII,  52-5). 

8  This  tendency  to  found  the  action  of  the  story  on  past  events  (which  we  observe  also  in 
"Zweikampf,"  "Findling"  and  "Cacilie")  allies  Kleist  more  with  the  Romanticists  than  with 
Goethe,  who  usually,  as  in  the  "Novelle"  (cf.  Seuffert,  1.  c,  147),  makes  the  action  arise,  develop, 
and  terminate  before  our  eyes.  When  Goethe  introduces  a  past  event,  it  is  rather  to  have  it 
serve  as  an  illustration  or  contrast  to  the  events  of  the  actual  story ;  in  other  words,  it  is  an  orna- 
ment rather  than  an  inherent  part,  as  the  uncle's  narration  of  the  fire  in  the  "Novelle."  In 
Kleist's  stories  such  past  events  are  always  organically  connected  with  the  present  happenings, 
as  the  fire  in  "Findling,"  on  which  not  only  the  character  of  Elvire  but  the  events  that  lead  to 
the  catastrophe  are  directly  founded. 


18  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

K  contrast  with  the  earlier  novels,  the  last  four  show  less  unity  of 
ityle.  The  interpolation  of  romantic  motifs  becomes  more  and  more 
marked  and  a  tendency  to  deviate  from  his  strict  concentration  of  plot 
[rows  npon  him,  culminating  in  "Findling"  and  "Zweikampf,"  in  both 
oKsrhich  two  absolutely  distinct  plots  are  superficially  welded  together. 
In  *'Cacilie"  we  can  follow  the  process  of  the  change,  since  two  versions 
are  now  before  us.^  The  one  of  1810  keeps  the  plot  clear  and  unified, 
concentrates  the  interest  on  the  young  men  and  finishes  the  story  with 
the  description  of  the  change  that  came  over  them  in  the  church ;  the 
version  of  1811  inserts  the  mother  and  other  extraneous  characters  and 
removes  the  final  scene  a  space  of  several  years,  thus  breaking  the 
unity  of  the  story.  Nothing  serves  better  to  show  the  change  that 
came  over  Kleist  during  this  last  year,  partly  as  a  result  of  his  general 
disintegration,  partly  brought  about  by  his  close  association  with  the 
group  of  Eomantic  poets  then  in  Berlin,  which  relationship  has  for  the 
Jiime  been  clearly  shown  in  Steig's  valuable  book.^ 

But  even  with  these  deviations,  the  general  attitude  of  Kleist  in 
regard  to  plot  structure  is  clear.  He  builds  up  his  stories  on  a  regular 
plan  from  initial  incident  to  climax  and  catastrophe,  keeps  his  plots  free 
from  extraneous  matter  and  carries  out  many  scenes  with  sharp 
dramatic  effect. 

When  Hebbel  groped  about  for  the  proper  outlet  for  his  talents,  he 
turned  to  the  short  story  as  a  form  that  gave  an  approximate  if  not 
adequate  scope  to  the  formative  impulse  within  him.  He  was  doubt- 
less lead  in  this  direction  partly  at  least  by  his  admiration  for  Kleist's 
tales,  which  he  considered  the  best  in  German  literature.^  He  certainly 
employed  for  his  narratives  the  technique  of  Kleist  to  a  degree  that 
went  far  beyond  his  model  and  often  culminated  in  mannerism.*     The 

» Reprinted  from  the  "  Abendblatter"  by  Steig,  "Berliner  Kampfe,"  p.  533  ff.  Cf.  also 
Erich  Schmidt's  comparison  of  the  two  versions  in  V.  f.  L.,  Ill,  p.  194  ff. 

2  The  theme  of  "Bettelweib,"  for  instance,  is  found  with  some  variations  in  the  "Marchen" 
of  Grimm  and  of  Arnim  (cf.  Steig's  Berliner  Kampfe,  523).  Badstiiber  (Kleist,  27)  shows  that 
the  theme  of  "Cacilie"  was  later  taken  up  by  Kerner  in  his  ballad  "Die  vierwahnsinnigen  Briider." 

sTgb.  I,  58. 

*  Werner  doubts  the  influence  of  Kleist  on  "Zitterlein":  "Denn  Hebbel  zeichnet  hier  eben 
auch  einen  ungeheuerlichen  Stoff  nur  ganz  singularer  Geltung."  (Vol.  VIII,  p.  xxx.)  But  it 
is  in  the  disposition  of  the  material  that  the  effect  of  Kleist  is  felt.  When  we  compare  the 
technique  of  "Holion"  (1830),  "Brudermord"  (1831),  "Der  Maler"  (1832),  "Die  Rauberbraut" 
(1833),  with  that  of  "Zitterlein"  (1835),  the  difference  is  very  striking.  In  "Holion"  (1830  in 
Ditmarser  und  Eiderstedter  Boten,  reprinted  by  Neumann,  F,  Hebbels  Werdezeit,  Zittau,  1899), 
appear  the  romantic  exaltation  of  sentiment  which  distinguishes  Jean  Paul  and  the  horrible 
imagery  characteristic  of  Hoffmann  (cf.  Kuh,  Hebbel,  I,  32;  Werner  sees  no  trace  of  Hoffmann, 
yill,  p.  xi).  The  other  early  tales  are  lacking  in  the  objectivity  which  marks  the  later  novels. 
"Der  Maler"  ends  with  a  direct  appeal  to  the  reader:  "Weine  Leser,  und  setze  hinzu :  Ruheihrer 
Asche!"  (p.  8).     This  story,  moreover,  abounds  in  long  descriptions  and  in  evident  attempts  to 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  19 

dramatic  note  brought  out  by  terse  compactness  and  cumulative  power 
is  most  clearly  observed  in  "Anna"  (1836),  concerning  which  he  wrote 
in  his  diary:  **Zum  ersten  Mai  Respect  gehabt  vor  meinem  dramatisch- 
epischen  in  Erzahlang  sich  ergiessenden  Talent."^  This  is  true  to  an 
almost  equal  extent  of  ''Die  Kuh"  (1849),  which  aroused  the  enthu- 
siastic admiration  of  Bamberg  because  of  the  compactness  of  form  and 
the  close  interweaving  of  cause  and  effect.^  In  both  of  these  stories 
the  dramatic  structure  is  so  evident  as  to  make  them  appear  like 
skeletons  without  flesh  to  soften  the  outlines.  What  in  Kleist  formed 
the  basis  of  the  stories,  the  framework  about  which  the  epic  and  even 
lyric  structure  arose  in  pleasing  outline  and  gracious  color,  remained  in 
Hebbel  the  raw  scaffolding.^  '*Anna"  is  the  most  extreme  example  of 
this.  Not  a  moment's  respite  is  left  the  reader,  not  a  single  peaceful 
scene  like  those  between  Kohlhaas  and  his  wife  and  children,  or  of  the 
Marquise  in  her  arbor,  resigned  to  her  fate  and  making  plans  for  the 
future.  Anna  is  driven  by  abuse  after  abuse  to  her  destruction.  The 
personal  insults  of  her  master,  the  scorn  of  the  servants,  the  deprivation 
of  all  pleasure,  and  finally  the  jealousy  of  her  lover  follow  one  another 
with  remorseless  rapidity.  Hebbel  himself  felt  the  harshness,  "die 
Richtung  zum  Schroffen  und  Grellen,"  and  condemned  it:  "N^mentlich 
in  der  'Anna'  is  das  der  Fall.  Die  Mishandlung  durch  den  Freiherrn 
und  das  Gesinde  ist  mit  gar  zu  schreienden  Farben  gemalt,  der  Schluss 
ein  zu  schneidender  Misston."*  Werner  makes  a  very  fine  distinction 
between  the  harm  and  the  benefit  which  Hebbel  derived  from  Kleist : 

create  atmosphere  similar  to  those  found  in  the  stories  of  Hoffmann  and  Tieck,  by  means  of 
mysterious  sounds  and  sights  (p.  9).  In  "Die  Rauberbraut"  we  meet  with  a  violence  of  motiva- 
tion, with  a  bombast  of  speech  that  rank  it  with  the  "Schauerroman"  of  the  period.  Such, 
for  instance,  is  the  description  of  Victorin  (p.  17),  of  the  orgy  in  the  grotto  (p.  24),  and  of  Gustav's 
revenge  (p.  31).  Throughout  all  of  them  there  rings  a  false,  hollow  sentiment,  seeking  to  dis- 
guise itself  in  sounding  rhetoric  that  places  these  novels  among  the  vast  number  of  the  unhappy 
imitations  of  Schiller.  When  we  come  to  "Zitterlein,"  which  Hebbel  himself  designates  as  his 
first  novel  (Tb.  I,  14),  a  great  difference  is  apparent.  The  language  is  much  more  simple,  very 
little  straining  for  effect  is  felt,  and  the  structure  shows  the  regularity  and  compactness  that 
we  have  observed  in  Kleist's  stories.  Moreover,  the  paper  on  Kleist  and  Korner  (cf.  p.  10), 
which  showed  so  great  an  appreciation  of  Kleist's  works,  was  prepared  and  read  during  the 
very  months  in  which  "Zitterlein"  was  written.  "Zitterlein"  was  in  preparation  from  June  27 
to  August  1,  1835.  The  article  was  read  July  28  of  the  same  year.  (Cf.  Tb.  1,14,  and  Werner, 
Wks.  IX,  p.  xi.)  Hence,  for  our  study,  we  shall  examine  "Zitterlein"  as  well  as  the  tales  that 
followed  for  signs  of  Kleist's  influence.  Hebbel's  frequent  revisions  of  the  stories  (cf.  Werner, 
VIII,  p.  xxviii  ff.)  make  it  impossible  to  follow  his  development  chronologically.  We  shall 
therefore  consider  the  tales  in  the  order  of  their  importance  only. 

1  Tgb.  I,  23. 

2Cf.  Br.  I,  314. 

3  For  this  he  was  criticised  by  his  contemporaries  (cf.  Br.  1, 433,  andlBartel's  "Hebbel,"  44). 
Fischer  (Klassizismus  und  Romantik  etc.,  145)  shows  that  Hebbel  owes  this  concentration  to 
Kleist,  and  not  to  Uhland,  as  Kuh  has  it. 

*  Tg.  I,  227. 


20  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

"Die  Aehnlichkeit  steckt  nicht  in  dem  Haufen  von  Grasslichkeiten, 
nicht  einmal  in  der  gedrangfcen  Darstellung,  sondern  viel  mehr  in  jener 
dramatischen  Lebendigkeit,  die  alle  Personen  deutlich  vor  Augen  hat" 
(Wks.  VIII,  p.  xxxviii). 

In  **Die  Knh"  the  effect  is  not  quite  so  harsh,  but  the  action  has 
the  same  pitiless  sequence  of  cumulative  effect.  The  exposition  brought 
about  by  the  farmer's  preparation  for  the  payment  of  the  new  treasure, 
the  initial  action  of  the  lighting  of  the  pipe,  the  climax  of  the  peasant 
rage  culminating  in  the  death  of  the  child  and  the  resulting  catastrophe 
that  sweeps  away  the  entire  household — all  these  events  follow  one 
another  with  breathless  haste. 

In  *'Barbier  Zitterlein,"  the  introduction  of  Leonhardt  into  the 
family,  the  beginning  of  the  catastrophe,  is  announced  in  the  first 
scene ;  his  actual  appearance,  the  steps  by  which  the  awakening  love  of 
the  young  people  is  made  manifest,  the  climax  of  Zitterlein's  wrath,  his 
voluntary  exile,  follow  one  another  closely.  Not  a  word  or  a  scene  is 
permitted  to  retard  the  hurrying  action.  The  theme  of  the  story  is  the 
development  of  Zitterlein's  absorbing  love  into  mania,  and  from  start 
to  climax  there  is  no  break  or  delay.  The  same  is  true  to  an  almost 
equal  extent  of  "Matteo."  We  hear  of  his  illness  and  its  fateful 
consequences.  Step  by  step  he  is  hurried  into  deeper  misery  and 
despair,  until  we  see  him  raise  the  knife  to  murder.  Then  follows  a 
rapid  falling  action  as  in  a  drama.  A  comparison  of  the  novel  form  of 
*'Der  Eubin"  with  Hebbel's  later  dramatization  of  the  plot  shows  how 
little  structural  change  was  necessary  to  convert  the  tale  into  a  drama. 
A  broader  exposition,  a  concentration  of  time  (in  the  drama  the  entire 
action  takes  place  in  one  day),  the  introduction  of  a  few  elucidating 
figures,  this  was  all  that  was  necessary.  The  action  proceeds  in  the 
same  sequence,  the  incidents  follow  in  the  same  order,  only  the  language 
is  made  more  antithetical,  the  characters  more  sharply  contrasting. 

The  other  stories,  *'Schnock,"  ''Vagabunden,"  "Haidvogel," 
*'Pattl,"  "Nacht  im  Jagerhause,"  *'Schlagel,"  are  character  sketches 
rather  than  tales,  yet  even  here  a  comparison  with  similar  sketches  by 
Jean  Paul  (to  whose  *'Schmelzle"  and  '*Wuz,"  Hebbel  was  largely  in- 
debted for  inspiration)  brings  into  relief  the  closeness  and  compactness  of 
weave  in  the  structure  of  Hebbel's  tales.  In  '*Schnock"  each  trait  of 
the  hero  is  brought  out  by  some  definite  incident,  often  fraught  with 
dramatic  if  grotesque  power.  So  the  wooing  of  his  wife,  the  scene  in 
the  menagerie,  the  incident  in  the  storehouse,  etc.,  etc.,  each  of  which 
is  left  to  point  its  own  moral  as  to  the  hero's  nature,  without  any 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  21 

interference  on  the  part  of  the  author.  In  **Paul,"  a  single  adventure 
is  told  in  such  a  manner  as  to  lay  bare  the  mechanism  of  the  young 
man's  mind,  yet  so  related  as  to  make  the  events  tell  their  own  story. 
Both  "Vagabunden"  and  "Haidvogel"  have  a  distinct  plot  which  is 
developed  uninterrupted  by  lengthy  explanations  or  deviations. 

This  dramatic  compactness  of  structure  is  the  first  striking  point  Vf 
similarity  between  Kleist  an^  tlebbel,  setting  them  apart  from  theii 
contemporaries  and  marking  a  decided  step  forward  in  the  direction  oi 
a  new  phase  in  the  art  of  novel-writing.  Among  Kleist^s  contem- 
poraries, only  E.  T.  A.  Hoffmann  made  any  approach  to  this  technique 
in  a  few  of  his  novels.  But  even  in  '*Das  Fraulein  von  Scudery,"  thi 
most  dramatic  of  his  tales,  the  emphasis  is  not  placed  on  the  actual 
occurrences,  with  their  revelations  of  the  soul-development  of  Cardillac, 
but  upon  the  impression  of  horror^  fear,  and  mystery  produced  upon 
the  minds  of  the  onlookers.  Kleist  would  have  placed  Cardillac  in  the 
foreground  and  made  us  live  with  him  through  all  the  horrors  of  the 
crimes  which  he  enacted.  The  same  difference  of  conception  is  felt  in 
reading  Brentano's  *'Geschichte  des  braven  Kasperl  und  des  schonen 
Annerl,"  which  also,  because  of  the  form  into  which  it  is  cast,  belongs 
rather  to  the  impressionistic  tale^  than  to  the  dramatic.  The  romantic 
tales  of  Tieck,  Eichendorff,  Novalis,  with  their  lyric  interpolations*  and 
reflections  on  extraneous  matters,  seem  to  belong  to  another  field  of 
art.  Like  them  in  looseness  of  structure,  however  different  in  content, 
are  the  tales  of  the  Young  Germans.  Multiplicity  of  interests  (in 
Gutzkow's  **Wally"  the  double  theme  of  love  and  religion,  in  his 
**Prinz  von  Madagaskar"  the  three  heroes),  interspersed  reflections  on 
religion,  social  conditions,  education,  etc.,  interpolated  anecdotes  with 
no  direct  bearing  upon  the  main  story  (*'Wally,"  pp.  265  ff.),  break  the 
continuity  of  interest  and  the  dramatic  tension. 

The  predilection  for  the  analytical  form  of  narration  which  we 
found  to  be  so  characteristic  of  Kleist  is  found  in  a  somewhat  less 
distinct  degree  in  Hebbel.  "Schnock,"  ''Haidvogel,"  '*Vagabunden" 
most  nearly  resemble  Kleist's  tales  in  the  method  of  exposition.  In 
each  of  these  a  characteristic  act  of  the  hero  introduces  the  story  for 
which  we  obtain  the  explanation  later  on  in  the  course  of  the  narrative. 
But  "Anna,"  '*Kuh,"  "Zitterlein"  also  set  in  with  the  acts  of  the 

^  This  tendency  to  intersperse  prose  narrative  with  lyric  verse,  which,  according  to  Walzel 
(A.  A.,  40,  424),  the  Romanticists  learned  from  Goethe,  and  which  the  Schlegels  laid  down  as 
Inherent  in  the  nature  of  the  novel  (cf.  Gesprache  iiber  Poesie,  Ath.,  1800,  Wks.  V,  222,  also 
A.  W.  Schlegel,  XII,  35),  is  entirely  absent  in  Kleist,  Hebbel  has  one  instance  of  it  only,  and 
that  in  his  early  novel  "Zitterlein"  (the  gypsy's  song,  p.  66  fif.). 


22  KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL 

catastrophe,  leaving  the  motivation  as  well  as  all  the  preliminary  steps 
to  be  developed  in  the  course  of  the  narrative.  Thus  Hebbel  as  well  as 
Kleist  displays  the  dramatist  in  his  narrative  style. 

CONCENTRATIOlf   UP02T   HERO 

The  most  important  point  that  the  analysis  of  the  dramatic  structure 
of  Kleist's  stories  brings  out  is  the  concentration  of  interest  upon  the 
bearers  of  the  action.  Only  in  *'Findling"  and  "Zweikampf"  is  there  a 
secondary  action^nd,  except  in  the  second  part  of  "Kohlhaas,"  there 
is  no  episode.  ^A  strong  light  is  thrown  at  all  times  upon  the  hero  and 
the  very  small  group  surrounding  or  opposing  him.  The  author  so 
completely  identifies  himself  with  these  characters  that  we  see  and  hear 
everything  only  through  the  medium  of  those  who  are  before  us/)  In 
the  first  part  of  "Michael  Kohlhaas"  the  hero  never  leaves  the  stage 
and  we  learn  of  what  happens  in  his  absence  only  as  he  himself  hears  of 
it.  With  him  we  see  the  condition  of  the  horses  and  are  left  to 
conjecture  the  true  state  of  the  case  until  he  hears  it  through  Herse 
(IV,  68  ff.).  We  see  him  prepare  his  accusation  and  patiently  await  a 
reply.  With  him  we  hear  of  the  futility  of  his  efforts  and  are  obliged 
to  content  ourselves  with  the  half  explanations  and  torturing  uncer- 
tainties that  take  the  zest  out  of  his  life  (pp.  75  if.).  The  adventures  of 
Lisbeth  at  the  court  are  treated  in  the  same  way.  Only  the  rumors 
that  Kohlhaas  hears  from  the  returning  servants  and  her  sad  condition 
when  she  is  given  back  to  him  are  made  known  to  us.  The  disap- 
pearance of  the  young  lord  at  the  sacking  of  Tronkenburg  is  unexplained 
till  Kohlhaas  hears  it  from  Herse  (p.  87) .  In  the  second  part  of  the 
story  more  scope  is'given  to  the  counterplay,  but  the  figure  of  Kohlhaas 
at  all  times  overshadows  the  stage.  The  description  of  Junker  Wenzel 
after  he  has  felt  the  avenging  hand  of  the  man  whom  he  had  wronged 
in  his  wanton  arrogance  is  a  most  convincing  proof  of  the  might  of  the 
hero  (p.  91).  The  same  is  true  of  the  council  scene  (pp.  102  ff.),  in 
which  the  fear  of  Kohlhaas  serves  to  bring  out  with  fine  dramatic  art 
the  characters  of  those  present.  Throughout  the  story  exemplary 
unity  is  maintained  !bv  thi«  pnpppnf.rfl|^jpn  upon  the  hero.  'i'Jie  only" 
exception  to  this*is  the  interpolation  of  the  romantically  mystic  element 
at  the  close.  Here  the  story  of  the  Elector's  early  adventure,  which 
has  only  an  outward  and  accidental  connection  with  that  of  Kohlhaas, 
is  felt  as  a  false  note. 

» Cf.  Minor,  Studien  zu  H.  v.  K.,  Euphorion,  I,  p.  587  ff.,  and  Minde-Pouet,  Sprache  und  Stil* 
87  ff. 


KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL  23 

111  '*Marquise"  this  technique  is  pursued  even  more  consistently. 
Only  for  the  shortest  periods  of  time  is  the  heroine  off  the  stage.  Most 
of  our  information  is  obtained  through  her.  Thus  we  learn  the  identity 
of  the  count:  "Sie  wusste  schon,  dass  er  der  Graf  F.  .  .  .  Obrist- 
lieutenant  .  .  .  war"  (p.  19).  With  her  we  believe  in  the  false 
reports  of  his  death  until  he  appears  before  her  (pp.  21  ff.).  The  cause 
of  his  eager  wooing  is  as  mysterious  to  us  as  to  her.  Even  the  mystery 
of  her  condition  is  not  explained  until  she  learns  of  it  in  the  course  of 
the  action.^  Little  over  a  page  is  devoted  to  the  action  of  the  count 
when  out  of  her  presence,  and  then  only  the  most  necessary  details  are 
meagerly  given  (pp.  41  ff .) .  The  same  brevity  is  apparent  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  state  of  affairs  in  her  father's  house  during  her  absence 
(pp.  44  ff.).  But  it  is  noticeable  that  during  this  scene  all  is  observed 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  father  and  nothing  is  told  except  what  he 
knows.  This  reserve  is  very  apparent  in  this  incident:  *'Als  der  zweite 
Brief  des  Graf  en  F.  .  .  .  ankam,  hatte  der  Commandant  befohlen, 
dass  er  nach  V.  .  .  .  zur  Marquise  herausgeschickt  werden  soUe,  welche 
ihn,  wie  man  nachher  durch  Boten  erfuhr,  bei  Seite  gelegt  und  gesagt 
hatte,  es  ware  gut"  (p.  45). 

In  *'Das  Erdbeben  von  Chili"  the  story  opens  in  the  prison  cell  of 
Jeronimo  (p.  1),  and  it  is  from  his  point  of  view  that  we  behold  all  the 
events  of  the  story.  With  him  we  flee  through  the  doomed  city,  viewing 
the  terrible  ruin  on  every  side,  and  only  with  him  do  we  find  Josephe 
and  the  child  and  hear  of  their  wonderful  rescue  (pp.  off.).  When 
Donna  Isabella  whispers  to  her  brother-in-law  words  which  are  too  low 
for  Jeronimo  to  hear,  we  too  are  left  to  conjecture  their  import 
(p.  11).'-^  The  same  method  is  found  in  *'Verlobung,"  where  Toni 
occupies  the  center  of  the  stage  every  moment.  Her  meeting  with 
Gustav,  her  awakening  love,  her  attempt  to  save  him,  and  her  death 
form  the  materials  of  the  story.  Babekan's  suspicions,  Gustav's  mis- 
understanding, the  condition  of  the  hapless  family  are  painted  only 
when  they  serve  as  a  motive  for  her  actions. 

In  Hebbel's  stories  the  concentration  upon  the  hero  is  even  more 
marked.  In  "Barbier  Zitterlein"  the  attention  is  focused  on  the 
unhappy  old  man  from  beginning  to  end,  the  love  of  Agnes  and  Leon- 
hardt  being    treated  only    as    it    affects    Zitterlein 's    life.      In    every 

*  Yet  the  effect  produced  by  this  withholding  of  the  facts  is  not  thatof  willful  mystification, 
as  we  feel  to  be  the  case  in  Hoffmann's  "DasOdeHaus,"  in  which  the  hero  is  continually  teased 
when  on  the  point  of  discovery  by  a  will-o'-the-wisp  fate,  and  finally  learns  the  facts  not  through 
organic  necessity  but  through  an  accident. 

a  Cf.  Brahm  I.e.  176. 


24  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

chapter  but  one  Zitterlein  himself 'appears,  and  the  action  culminates  in 
its  effects  upon  him.  Even  the  tenth  chapter,  which  begins  with  a 
description  of  Agnes's  awakening  love,  passes  at  once  to  Zitterlein. 
His  well-known  antipathy  to  his  daughter's  marriage  determines  her  to 
renounce  her  lover  and  thus  brings  on  the  climax  of  the  action.  In  the 
twelfth  chapter — the  shortest  of  the  story — he  does  not  appear.  It 
tells  of  the  marriage  of  Agnes  and  Leonhardt,  but  the  thought  of  the 
old  man,  driven  from  his  home,  hovers  over  the  entire  scene  and  casts 
its  shadow  over  it.  In  *'Anna"  we  follow  the  heroine  from  garden  to 
kitchen,  then  from  kitchen  to  spinning-room;  then  in  her  flight  from 
the  burning  castle  into  the  field,  where  she  sinks  down  overcome  with 
horror;  then  into  the  village,  where  she  makes  her  desperate  attempt  at 
saving  the  people  whose  ruin  she  had  caused.  With  one  exception,  the 
scene  in  the  kitchen  that  takes  place  while  she  goes  to  the  well  for 
water,  we  see  only  what  she  sees,  and  know  only  what  she  knows.  But 
we  have  in  this  scene  the  same  phenomenon  which  we  observed  in  the 
twelfth  chapter  of  "Zitterlein":  though  the  heroine  is  not  on  the 
scene,  she  is,  notwithstanding,  the  center  of  interest.  The  words  of 
good-natured  Johann,  of  the  spiteful  gardener,  of  the  fat  little  cook, 
cast  back  the  reflection  which  the  injured  girl  with  her  proud  aloofness 
had  produced  on  these  vulgar  minds,  and  Friederike  appears  as  a  foil  to 
Anna's  pure  maidenliness.  In  this  story  the  entire  action  takes  place 
in  one  day,  and  rushes  on  without  a  break. .  Lights  are  thrown  on  past 
events  simply  as  these  occur  to  the  actors  of  the  little  tragedy;  *'Sie 
erinnerte  sich,  dass  der  gestrenge  Herr  sie  vor  einigen  Abenden  in  der 
Gartenlaube  gern  leichtfertig  gefunden  hatte."  "Da  ging  der  Gartner, 
der  ihr  langst  nachgestellt  hatte.  "^ 

The  scene  of  "Die  Kuh"  is  laid  entirely  within  the  little  smoky 
room  of  the  hut.  We  see  and  hear  everything  from  this  one  standpoint. 
We  see  Andreas  step  to  the  door  and  lean  against  the  post,  we  watch 
him  as  he  rushes  to  the  foot  of  the  ladder  and  climbs  it  so  hastily  as  to 
knock  off  his  hat;  but  when  he  gets  out  of  our  range  of  vision  we 
simply  read:  "Nun  verschwand  er  in  der  Lucke  und  bald  darauf 
knackte  der  Dachstuhl."  We  hear  the  sound  of  Geesche's  voice,  the 
boy  enters;  we  witness  his  search  and  his  grewsome  discovery;  Geesche's 

*In  the  same  manner,  Kleist,  in  "Die  Verlobung,"  makes  us  acquainted  with  the  early 
history  ofiToni  and'.Gustav  only  as  they  relate  it  to  each  other.  In  both  cases  the  effect  of  the 
remarks  is  not  only  to  elucidate  the  past,  but  decidedly  to  modify  thefeelings  and  to  hasten  the 
action  of  the  characters.  Anna's  dumb  rage  is  gradually  inflamed  to  violence  by  the  reminder 
of  past  indignities.  Gustav's  suspicions  are  lulled  by  the  knowledge  of  Toni's  European  ances- 
try, whUe  Toni's  heart  is  touched  with  pity  at  hearing  of  Gustav's  past  sorrows. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL        '  25 

swoon  and  the  conflagration  take  place  before  our  eyes.  Of  the  sub- 
sequent events  the  author  pretends  to  be  as  ignorant  as  the  reader,  and 
simply  states  the  consequences.  But  not  only  is  the  action  thus 
visualized  for  the  reader,  the  events  are  made  known  to  him  only  as 
they  reveal  themselves  to  the  actors.  We  learn  of  Geesche's  errand 
only  through  the  impatience  of  Andreas  for  her  arrival  with  the  cow. 
Andreas's  hard  life  is  made  known  to  us  by  means  of  the  reminiscences 
which  the  sight  of  his  money  calls  up.  The  child's  deed  in  burning  up 
the  hard-earned  bank  notes  is  revealed  only  through  Andreas's  discovery 
of  it.  Andreas's  suicide  is  not  made  known  to  the  reader  until  the  boy 
finds  the  dangling  body. 

In  "Matteo"  the  minor  characters  enter  only  as  they  affect  the 
hero's  life,  and  appear  in  the  story  only  as  they  present  themselves  to 
his  eyes.  Felicita  and  the  ladies  who  had  employed  Matteo  are  not 
mentioned  except  while  he  is  occupied  with  them.  When  the  man  who 
has  taken  the  poor  wretch  into  his  service  leaves  him  at  the  door  of  his 
house,  we  also  are  left  to  conjecture  his  errand  and  are  only  with 
Matteo  introduced  to  the  guilty  wife  and  her  lover.  In  "Haidvogel" 
the  entire  action  again  centers  upon  the  hero.  Circumstances  of  the 
past,  necessary  for  the  reader  to  know,  are  either  incidentally  mentioned 
by  him — as  when  he  taunts  his  wife  with  her  prosperous  youth  and  her 
former  lover — or  are  told  to  him  for  some  purpose  connected  with  the 
plot — as  the  death  of  his  wife's  uncle,  related  to  him  by  the  time-serving 
Johann.  Not  for  a  monaent  is  our  attention  allowed  to  turn  away 
from  the  hero.  In  "Der  Rubin,"  Assad  is  the  center  of  the  action. 
We  hear  nothing  of  the  effect  that  his  sudden  disappearance  had  on  the 
jeweler  and  the  executioner.  The  story  of  the  princess's  enchantment 
is  made  known  to  us  only  when  it  is  related  to  Assad.  Of  the  father's 
grief  we  learn  by  the  signs  of  it  which  Assad  discovers  on  his  face  when 
he  meets  him.^ 

The  concentration  upon  the  hero,  so  marked  in  the  two  writers, 
forms  a  strong  line  of  demarcation  between  their  style  of  narration  and 
that  of  pure  epic  as  illustrated  in  the  epics  of  the  ancients.^  More 
than  any  other  one  point  of  technique  does  this  distinguish  the  dramatic 
tale  of  to-day,  like  Keller's  "Romeo  und  Julia  auf  dem  Dorfe,"  from 
the  older  type  of  tale  with  its  frequent  deviations,  retrogressions,  and 

A  This  last  peculiarity  finds  a  noticeable  parallel  in  Kleist's  "Marquise  von  O.,"  in  which  story 
the  count's  emotions  are  betrayed  only  by  the  flush  which  the  others  observe  on  his  brow,  his 
haste  and  confusion.  So  also,  in  "Das  Erdbeben,"  we  hear  of  Josephe's  escape, and  subsequent 
adventures  when  she  tells  them  to  Jeronimo. 

a  Cf.  Zielinski,  15  ff. 


26  KLEIST   AND   HEBBEL 

interpolations  of  new  characters.  Thus  in  "Heinrich  von  Ofter- 
dingen,"  the  hero  disappears  for  whole  chapters  while  a  completely 
new  set  of  characters  absorb  the  attention.  Hoffmann  in  his  short 
stories  seldom  contents  himself  with  one  hero.  In  "Das  Majorat" 
three  generations  pass  before  us,  Avhile  the  extremely  subsidiary  interest 
of  the  young  lawyer's  love  for  Seraphine  for  a  time  crowds  out  the  real 
story.  Of  Hebbel's  contemporaries,  Gutzkow,  whose  famous  law  of 
the  "Nebeneinander"^  marks  his  deviation  in  principle  from  the 
practice  of  Kleist  and  Hebbel,  often  lets  us  forget  the  hero  altogether 
for  a  while,  in  our  interest  in  other  personages,  as  in  the  adventures  of 
Feodore  and  Hugo  in  "Imagina,"  or  of  the  minister's  wife  in 
"Seraphine." 

OBJECTIVITY    OF   TREATMENT 

A  result  of  this  dramatic  treatment  of  the  actors  in  the  stories  is 
the  complete  repression  of  the  person  of  the  author.  No  moralizing, 
no  reflection  upon  the  deeds  or  sentiments  of  the  characters  appears. 
We  learn  of  their  feelings  only  throup^h  their  own  words,  actions  and 

I    looks.     We  are  left  to  form  our  own  conclusions  as  to  the  ethical  value 

I    of  their  deeds. 

Thus  the  thrilling  scene  between  Kohlhaas  and  Luther  (IV,  971  ff.)  is 
recorded  with  the  precision  and  terseness  of  a  chronicler.  The  life  and 
passion  which  throb  beneath  the  surface  are  not  elucidated  by  the  author, 
who  does  not  obtrude  himself  even  in  an  adjective,  but  are  felt  throngli 
the  words  and  action  of  the  characters.  The  same  treatment  is  observ- 
able in  "Die  Marquise  von  0.,"  in  the  scene  in  which  the  heroine  dis- 
covers the  identity  of  her  ravager :  "Die  Marquise  blickte  mit  todtender 
Wildheit  bald  auf  den  Grafen,  bald  auf  die  Mutter  ein;  ihre  Brnst  flog, 
ihr  Antlitz  loderte,  eine  Furie  blickt  nicht  schrecklicher,  .  .  .  Diesem, 
Vater,  sprach  sie,  kann  ich  mich  nicht  vermahlen!  Griff  ein  Gefass  mit 
Weihwasser,  das  an  der  hinteren  Thiir  befestigt  war,  besprengte  in 
einem  grossen  Wurf  Vater,  Mutter  und  Bruder  damit,  und  verschwand" 
(IV,  55  ff.).  The  deed  of  the  count  finds  no  direct  comment  from  the 
author.  Only  the  consternation  of  the  others,  his  own  remorse  and  the 
punishment  visited  upon  him  show  Kleist's  attitude.  In  the  other 
j(a!es  a  similar  reserve  is  apparent.  The  legends  "Bettelweib"  and 
f* Cecilia"  present  ample  material  for  moralizing,  but  Kleist  proceeds 
/with  the  simple  narrative  style  of  the  chronicler.     The  closing  scene  of 

» Cf.  Briefe  eines  Narren  an  eine  Narrin  Hamburg,  1832,  p.  182. 


KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL  27 

**Bettelweib"  may  have  presented  in  this  respect  a  model  for  the  last 
sentence  of  Hebbel's  "Kuh":  "Er  war  anf  die  elendiglichste  Weise 
bereits  umgekommen,  iind  noch  jetzt  liegen  .  .  .  seine  weissen 
Gebeine  in  dem  Winkel  des  Zimmers,  von  welchem  er  das  Bettelweib 
voii  Locarno  hatte  aufstehen heissen"  (IV,  192).  In  "Die  Verlobung" 
it  is  the  feeliog  of  the  bystanders  that  is  expressed  after  Gustav's 
terrible  deed:  "Adelbert  und  Gottfried  .  .  .  riefeii  dem  unbegreiflich 
grasslichen  Morder  zu  .  .  ."  (IV,  187).  The  frightful  closing  scene  of 
"Erdbeben"  is  related  with  absolute  objectivity,  the  more  remarkable 
because  the  dialogue  increases  in  rapidity  and  fire  as  the  action  becomes 
more  exciting.  Only  by  an  occasional  epithet  does  the  author  express 
his  view.  Thus  he  speaks  of  Pedrillo  as  "den  fanatischen  Mordknecht, 
der  diese  Greuel  veranlasste,"  and  Fernando  is  "dieser  gottliche  Held" 
(IV,  15).  In  "Michael  Kohlhaas"  the  equilibrium  of  ethical  justice  re 
very  delicately  indicated  by  the  refusal  of  Luther  to  grant  the  sacral 
ment  to  Kohlhaas  as  long  as  his  heart  is  filled  with  hatred  of  hi* 
enemies.  This  Kleist  did  not  find  in  his  sources.^  Such  sligh  , 
deviations  from  his  usual  reserve  give  a  tone  of  warmth  and  sympathy 
to  Kleist's  narratives  which  we  miss  in  those  of  Hebbel. 

Hebbel's  objective  sense  is  most  clearly  shown  in  his  short  story 
"Anna."  Not  one  adjective  shows  his  indignation  at  the  oppressor, 
his  contempt  for  the  petty  persecutors,  or  his  pity  for  the  harassed  girl. 
When  the  climax  is  reached,  when  the  master  commands  the  last 
indignity  to  be  offered  the  poor  girl's  dead  body,  the  author  drily  closes 
with:  "Dies  geschah."  Julian  Schmidt  says:^  "Es  ist  unglaublich,  wie 
viel  Coquetterie  in  diesem  'Dies  geschah'  sich  versteckt;  eine  ellenlange 
Polemik  gegen  die  empfindsamen  Beliettristen,  welche  diese  Gelegen- 
heit  nicht  voriibergehen  lassen  wiirden,  zu  klagen  und  zu  achzen."  A 
great  change  is  observable  here  from  the  closing  words  of  "Der 
Brudermorder,"  with  its  direct  appeal  to  the  reader's  sympathy  (p.  8), 
a  change  which  we  observe  also  in  the  closing  sentence  of  "Die  Rauber- 
braut"  (1833):  "Als  die  Sonne  am  anderen  Morgen  aufging,  fiel  ihr 
erster  Stral  auf  zwei  zerschmetterte  Leichname"  (p.  32).  Equally 
restrained  is  the  author  in  "Die  Kuh."  Not  even  an  adjective 
expresses  his  mental  attitude  towards  the  acquisitiveness  and  fiendish 
temper  of  the  peasant.  His  despair  after  the  murder  of  his  child  is 
shown  only  in  his  expression,  "Ein  schneller,  scheuer  Blick  hatte  ihm 

*  Cf.  Pniower,  Michael  Kohlhaas,  p.  335.  Cf.  also  Feierfeil,  Die  Verlobung  in  San  Domingo 
etc.,  p.  17. 

a  Cf .  Grenzboten,  1850,  p.  727. 


28  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

gezeigt,  dass  das  Kind  laut  und  leblos  .  .  .  lag"  (VIII,  248),  and  in 
the  trembling  of  his  limbs.  In  *'Haidvogel"  and  *'Schnock"  the 
author  makes  no  comment  whatever  on  the  characters  he  is  portraying, 
but  lets  the  shiftless  braggadocio  of  the  one  and  the  grotesque  cowardice 
of  the  other  reveal  themselves.  Only  in  the  contempt  of  Haidvogel's 
wife  for  her  good-for-nothing  husband  (VIII,  215)  and  in  the  very 
evident  amusement  which  Schnock  arouses  in  all  who  come  in  contact 
with  him  do  we  gauge  the  author's  views.  In  the  same  manner 
Zitterlein's  growing  madness  and  the  revulsion  of  feeling  caused  by  the 
sight  of  his  daughter's  little  child  are  left  to  make  their  own  impression. 
Nowhere  does  the  author  directly  ask  for  the  reader's  pity  or  condem- 
nation for  the  fanaticism  and  the  suffering  of  his  characters.^  We  are 
stmnk  in   t|]f>  w^|»]^^  nf  hnfh    Hphhp.l  a.Tirl  TCIPiat  hv  thft  fl.1mf|st  p.npnplfttA 

absence  of  the  personal  note,  so  strong  in  the  eighteenth  century  novel 

and    iy^    |.>|ft   ro^a.^p'pr   f.nift — wnar,     ivi ftvp.r   pairs    "lias     Knk-ftt.t.ifirAn    rn\h 

dem  edleu  Leser  oder  der  schonen  Leserin,  das  Buhlen  um  die  geriihrte 
Thrane."''  This  trait,  more  perhaps  than  any  other,  marks  a  new 
advance  on  the  part  of  the  short  story  in  the  direction  of  the  drama. 
As  in  the  latter  form  of  art,  the  object  is  to  let  the  life  as  presented, 
tell  its  own  story  and  point  its  own  moral.  Only  in  the  selection  and 
disposition  of  the  material,  in  the  arrangement  of  light  and  shade,  does 
the  author  seek  means  of  impressing  upon  the  reader  his  peculiar  image 
of  that  life. 

^  Whenever  the  author  does  insert  a'reflection,  he  gives  it,  not  as  his  own,  but  as  the  thought 
of  one  of  his  characters,  whom  the  logic  of  events  has  led  to  this  conclusion.  Thus  in  the 
reflection  of  the  young  wife  in  "Matteo"  (VIII,  214)  and  in  the  pity  expressed  by  the  jeweler  in 
"Rubin"  for  Assad's  sad  fate  (VIII,  72). 

8  R.  M.  Meyer,  Die  Litteratur  des  19.  Jhdts.,UO.  AlsoIMinor,  Studien  zu  Heinrich  von  Kleist, 
I.e.,  589;  Minde-Pouet,  Sprache  und  Stil,  I.e.,  78  ff.  To  quote  only  a  few  examples  of  the 
Romantic  tendency  in  Hoffmann's  "Doppeltganger,"  one  of  the  less  subjective  of  his  stories, 
we  have  continually  such  interpolations  as  "Es  ist  nSthig,  dem  geneigten  Leser  zu  sagen,  dass 
der  feme  Ort,  von  dem  her  der  alte  Amadeus  Schwendy  seinen  Sohn  nach  Hohenfluh  schickte,  ein 
Landhaus  in  der  Gegend  von  Luzern  war.  .  .  .  Es  mogehier  der  Ort  sein,  dem  geneigten  Leser  zu 
sagen,  wie  sich  alles  begab  am  Hofe  hes  Fiirsten  Remigius,"  etc.  More  crass  still  is  the  case  of 
Hoffmann's  "Sandmann,"  where,  in  true  Jean  Paul  style,  he  spends  several  pages  in  explaining 
to  the  reader  why  he  cast  his  story  in  this  form  and  gives examplesof  other  forms  in  which  he 
might  have  presented  it.  The  frequency  of  Jean  Paul's  interruption  of  the  course  of  his 
narrative  by  reference  to  himself  as  the  writer  of  the  story  is  too  well  known  to  need  further 
mention.  (Cf.  Nerrlich,  Jean  Paul,  203  and  229.)  The  practice  is  one  that  had  been  common 
to  all  the  eighteenth  century  novels.  Wieland's  "Agathon"  and  Goethe's  "Wilhelm  Meister" 
are  classic  examples.  But  Goethe  himself  condemned  the  abuse  of  it  in  his  theoretical  expression, 
and  in  his  best  novels  he  retires  more  and  more  behind  the  scenes,  (Cf.  Reimann,  Goethe's 
Romantechnik,  29  ff.,  and  Spielhagen,  neuelBeitrage,  116  ff.)  Among  the  Young  Germans  also 
this  habit  of  addressing  the  reader  was  frequent.  In  his  "Wally,"  Gutzkow  comments  on  the 
love  scene  between, Wally  and  Casar:  "Sehet  da  eine  Scene,  wie  sie  in  den'alten  Zeitennicht 
vorkaml  .  .  .  Ich  zittre  vor  einem  Jahrhundert,  das  in  seinen  Irrthiimern  so  tragisch,  in 
seinem  Fluch  so  anbetungswUrdig  ist." 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  29 

This  objectivity  shows  itself  in  a  more  subtle  way  in  the  evident 
effort  of  the  two  writers  to  do  justice  to  both  sides  of  the  controversy. 
Thus  in  "Verlobung,"  Kleist  distributes  light  and  shade  pretty  equally 
between  the  whites  and  theTlacKSon  the  ishmd,  calling  Hoango 
**einen  grimmigen  Menschen,"  because  he  murders  the  master  who 
had  shown  him  personal  kindness,  yet  remembering  that  the  negro  was 
**eingedenk  der  Tyrannei,  die  ihn  seinem  Vaterlande  entrissen  hatte" 
(p.  156),  and  picturing  him  as  going  to  war  "um  seinen  Mit- 
biirgern  .  .  .  beizustehen."  Gustav,  though  indignant  at  the  horrors 
perpetrated  by  the  blacks,  is  obliged  to  own  that  the  treatment  which 
the  white  masters  accorded  their  slaves  was  of  a  nature  *'das  ich  .  .  . 
mich  nicht  unterfangen  will,  in  Schutz  zu  nehmen. "  So  in  "Marquise" 
the  count  is  not  treated  as  an  unmitigated  villain,  but  the  circumstances 
surrounding  his  deed  are  so  arranged  as  to  cast  the  most  humane  light 
upon  it.  In  *'Kohlhaas"  the  power  which  oppresses  the  hero  seems 
one  of  absolute  tyranny,  yet  it  also  has  within  its  ranks  men  of  a 
noble  and  just  type,  as  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  and  Heinrich  von 
Geusau.  Moreover,  Luther  reminds  Kohlhaas  of  the  wrongs  that  he 
has  committed  in  his  search  for  justice  and  of  the  fact  that  human 
limitations  are  often  to  blame  for  wrong,  as  well  as  willful  malice. 
Thus  the  scales  are  very  carefully  balanced  and  we  are  not  requested 
to  enlist  our  sympathies  blindly  on  one  side,  but  rather  to  follow  with 
interest  the  picture  of  the  world  that  is  unrolled  before  us. 

Hebbel's  stories  show  this  objectivity  in  a  manner  even  more 
striking.  Possessing  less  artistic  finish  than  bis  later  productions,  these 
early  attempts  often  lay  bare  his  method  all  the  more  completely.  In 
"Haidvogel"  and  "Schlagel"  we  get  an  attempt  to  paint  two  "mauvais 
sujets"  for  their  own  sakes.  There  is  no  attempt  here  to  point  a 
moral  or  illustrate  poetic  justice.  The  two  rascals  are  produced  almost 
with  naivete,  as  interesting  specimens  of  the  genus  homo.  In  the  same 
manner  Schnock  and  Paul  are  analyzed  and  accounted  for.  These  four 
become  heroes  of  stories  through  their  interrelation  with  others,  whose 
suffering  by  their  acts,  or  whose  effects  upon  them,  are  also  related  with 
absolute  objectivity. 

This  desire  to  do  justice  to  every  character,  to  lay  bare  the 
mechanism  of  the  scoundrel  as  well  as  of  the  noble-minded,  Hebbel  did 
not  necessarily  derive  from  Kleist.  It  may  be  merely  another  point  in 
common,  another  instance  of  that  affinity  of  their  genius  which  led 
them  to  select  from  the  storehouse  of  the  past  the  same  seeds  for 
further  cultivation.     In  Diderot's  **Le  Neveu  de  Kameau"  we  find  a 


30  KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL 

drastic  example  of  that  objectivity  which  paints  a  rascal  with  as  great 
artistic  pleasure  as  a  saint.  Likewise,  while  Goethe's  characters  gener- 
ally exhibit  a  family  trait  of  distinguished  nobility  of  soul,  he  gives  us 
within  these  limits  a  realistic  picture  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men.  In  Hebbel's  case  we  may  see  in  the  juxtaposition  of  charac- 
ters and  the  impartial  treatment  which  they  receive,  an  illustration  of 
his  "dualistic  Weltanschauung"  which  Scheunert^  shows  him  to  have 
held  undevlatingly  throughout  his  artistic  development. 

e  case  is  different  with  the  Romanticists.  Here,  where  the  essence 
f  the  novel  was  self -rev  elation  on  the  part  of  the  author,  we  get  really 
e  character — that  of  the  writer  himself.  Friedrich  SchlegeP 
acknowledges  very  freely  "dass  das  Beste  in  den  besten  Romanen  nichts 
andres  ist,  als  ein  mehr  oder  minder  verhiilltes  Selbstbekenntniss  des 
Verfassers,  der  Ertrag  seiner  Erfahrung,  die  Quintessenz  seiner 
Eigenthiimlichkeit."  For  this  reason  he  ranks  the  novels  of  Fielding 
and  Richardson  beneath  any  autobiographical  anecdote  or  collection  of 
letters  and  considers  Rousseau's  **  Confessions"  a  far  better  novel  than 
his^'Heloise." 

CONTENT 

Werner  (VIII,  p.  xxxiii)  sees  the  similarity  of  Kleist  and  Hebbel  in 
the  '^dramatic  vividness"  of  their  style.  Not  only  in  the  manner  of 
portrayal,  however,  but  also  in  the  subject-matter  of  their  stories,  in 
that  which  they  selected  as  of  sufficient  interest  for  narration,  do  we 
find  a  great  affinity  between  them.     The  ever  recurrent  theme  of  both 

novelists  is  the  flftVftlnp|j|]PTif.  nf  a  n]^^Y^f>tov  aq   aknwTi    h.r  ^r^fiT^^' 


ne  traae-mark  of  the  novel  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  the 
strongly  marked  ** tendency."  This  might  be  the  lauding  of  control 
(**Gelassenheit")^  as  introduced  into  Germany  by  Richardson  and 
imitated  in  Gellert's  "Leben  der  schwedischen  Grafin  G.,"  or  the 
demand  for  free  development  of  the  passions,  exemplified  in  Rousseau's 
**Heloise"  and  culminating  in  the  novels  of  Heinse. 

As  the  novel  developed,  the  psychological  interest  more  and  more 
usurped  the  place  of  the  old  ^'purpose."  But  even  Goethe's  "Meister," 
with  all  its  rich  fullness  of  life,  does  not  claim  to  be  free  from  a 
pedagogical  tendency.  So  Goethe  says  of  his  hero  at  a  certain  point  of 
the  latter's  development:  **Da8  Interesse  an  unserem  Helden  beginnt 
erst  da  wieder,  wo  wir  ihn  in  einer  Art  von  Thatigkeit  und  Genuss  zu 

^  I.e.  287  ff.  "~~~~~~~~ 

•Wks.  I.e.,  V,  223. 

'  I  have  adopted  the  elassifications  of  Carl  Heine,  "Der  Roman  in  Deutschland,"  p.  30. 


y 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSIT 

OF 

KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL  31  ^SdkiiORIiii 

finden  hoffen."  In  this  combination  of  activity  and  enjoyment,  Heine^ 
sees  the  two  opposing  tendencies,  control  ("Gelasseiiheit")  and  passion 
combined.  Thus  *'Meister"  would  form  the  glorious  apex  of  the 
eighteenth  century  novel,  an  apex,  however,  which  already  bears  within 
it  the  seeds  of  a  new  development.  This  new  growth,  of  which  shoots 
can  be  seen  in  various  places,  springs  into  tangible  form  in  the  novel^k 
of  Kleist.  Here  for  the  first  time  the  purely  human  problem,  the^ 
objective  delight  in  the  drama  of  life,  free  from  pedagogical  or  moraliz-  I 
ing  tendencies  on  the  one  hand  and  symbolic  mysticism  on  the  other,  I 
is  the  center  of  interest.  Michael  Kohlhaas  is  changed  by  criiej  V 
injustice  from  a  peaceful  citizen  to  an  outlaw  and  incendiary.  The 
Marquise  has  public  shame  and  private  grief  put  upon  her  until  she  is 
bowed  to  the  ground,  only  to  rise  in  the  power  of  her  conscious 
innocence.  Toni  learns  through  love  to  see  her  actions  in  a  new  light 
and  loses  her  life  in  her  efforts  to  act  according  to  her  new  convictions.'^ 
In  *'Oacilie"  the  change  of  heart  of  the  young  students  forms  the 
nucleus  of  the  story.  In  "Findling"  we  have  the  gradual  unfolding  of 
a  character  whose  innate  selfishness  and  bestiality  put  to  naught  all  the 
ennobling  influences  of  kindness,  gentleness,  and  virtue  by  which  he  was 
surrounded.  In  *'Zweikampf"  the  attention  is  concentrated  on  Litte- 
garde's  despair  and  her  struggles  against  it.^  Only  in  *'Erdbeben"  and 
**Bettlerin"  does  the  situation  rather  than  the  character  constitute  the 
chief  element  of  importance.  But  Kleist  stands  almost  alone  among  his 
contemporaries  in  this  singleness  of  attention  to  the  human  problem 
nor  did  he  find  a  successor  very  soon. 

The  moralizing  tendency  of  the  "control"  novel  of  the  middle  of  I 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  rebellion  against  restraint  which  marked  I 
the  storm  and  stress  novel  of  its  close,  had  given  place  in  the  early j 
nineteenth  century  to  the  Romantic  withdrawal  from  the  world,  thel 
delight  in  the  mystic,  the  symbolic,  the  horrible,  and  the  fantastic.        ^ 

We  saw  that  Kleist,  while  dallying  now  and  then  (second  part  of 
**Kohlhaas,"  *'Bettlerin,"  ami  *'Cacilie")  with  such  motives,  built  up 
his  novels  on  a  very  different  plan.  In  Hebbel's  time,  fantastic  Roman- 
ticism had  given  place  to  the  socialistic  and  religions  reform  theories  of 
the  Young  Germans.  The  tales  of  Gutzkow,  Mundt,  and  Laube  are 
the  expression  of  their  authors'  views,  and  the  characters  of  the  stories 

M.c.,p.  134. 

'Kleist's  careful  motivation  is  best  felt  by  a  comparison  with  Korner's  "Toni,"  in  which 
no  change  of  heart  is  attributed  to  the  heroine.  Cf.  Kade,  Grenzboten,  1889,  173,  and  Feierfeil, 
1.  c,  10. 

3Cf.  Steig's  "Berliner  Kampfe,"  536  ff.,  for  an  account  of  sources. 


3 


32  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

are  the  bearers  of  these  rather  than  real  individuals  as  studied  from  life. 
Thus  Gutzkow's  **Wally,"  with  its  subtitle  **Die  Zweiflerin,"  has  the 
author's  views  of  conventional  religion  and  conventional  morality  for 
its  theme.  Mundt's  *' Madonna"  has  the  fascinating  and  vividly  told 
tale  of  the  heroine  buried  like  a  hidden  gem  in  a  great  mass  of  reflec- 
tions and  polemics,  and  the  conclusion  of  her  story  is  utterly  unsatis- 
factory because  the  author  loses  his  interest  in  the  heroine. 

In  Hebbel's  novels,  on  the  other  hand,  the  delight  in  character  is 
even  more  strongly  emphasized  than  in  Kleist's.  "Anna,"  *'Kuh," 
*'Zitterlein,"  and  "Matteo"  have  for  their  subject  the  agony  of  a  soul 
under  stress  of  wrong  inflicted  from  without.  The  pain,  the  rebellion, 
the  conflict,  and  the  defeat  are  pictured  with  the  greatest  care. 
'*Schnock,"  *'Nepomuk  Schlagel,"  *'Vagabunden"  are  character 
sketches  with  a  comparatively  slight  plot.  "Paul"  and  "Eine  Nacht 
im"  Jagerhause"  are  devoted  to  the  portrayal  of  one  phase  of  activity: 
the  feelings  of  a  human  being  in  great  bodily  fear.  "Der  Rubin"  is  a 
symbolic  fairy  tale  the  center  of  which  is  a  youth  in  the  struggle  after 
the  ideal.  Here  is  neither  tendency  nor  lyric  outpouring  of  feelings. 
The  author's  entire  power  is  concentrated  solely  upon  the  analysis  of 
his  characters. 

(Moreover,  in  the  method  of  depicting  these  characters  the  two 
;7riters  are  singularly  alike.  Neither  by  direct  description  or  elucida- 
tion, nor  by  that  favorite  device  of  the  time,  the  letter  or  diary,^  are  the 
individualities  revealed  to  the  reader.  His  own  actions  al^r>Q  o-g-p]^,j|i  ih^ 
hero,  with  here  and  there  an  incidental  bit  of  description  or  dialogue. 
Thus  in  "Michael  Kohlhaas"  the  central  figure  is  placed  in  situations 
calculated  to  throw  into  bold  relief  his  natural  gentleness,  patience, 
gratitude,  and  tenderness,  and  the  change  which  was  gradually  pro- 
duced in  his  character.  He  remembers  with  emotion  the  kindness  of 
the  old  lord  of  the  castle  (p.  59) ;  again  and  again  he  curbs  his  rising 
wrath  at  the  unjust  retention  of  his  property,  sometimes  because  pru- 
dence tells  him  "weilja  doch  nichts  anders  tibrig  blieb,"  again  because 
he  takes  a  certain  amount  of  injustice  for  granted  in  "der  grebechlichen 
Noth  der  Welt."  Even  when  indignation  at  personal  insult  has  driven 
him  post-haste  to  Dresden  to  obtain  redress,  his  sense  of  fairness  makes 
him  halt  until  he  can  ascertain  from  his  servant  whether  any  blame  be 
attached  to  him,  in  which  case  he  is  determined  to  bear  the  loss  as  a 
,  punishment  (p.  66).     We  see  him  caressing  his  children,  he  treats  the 

^  A  good  example  of  the  letter  form  as  employed  in  the  short  story  is  Hoffmann's  "Sand- 
mann."     Cf.  also  C.  Heine,  1.  c.  36. 


KLEIST   AND  HEBBEL  33 

aged  with  gentleness  and  forbearance,  strangers  with  a  manly  courtesy 
(p.  135).  The  two  crucial  scenes,  the  one  in  which  he  arranges  to  sell 
his  land  (p.  76)  and  the  one  in  which  he  explains  his  situation  and 
states  his  intentions  to  Luther  (IV,  97),  illumine  as  with  a  searchlight 
the  road  over  which  he  had  traveled  in  changing  from  a  man  of  peace 
to  a  breaker  of  laws.  Almost  without  exception,  Kohlhaas's  actions 
have  been  the  sole  means  of  elucidation  to  the  reader.^ 

In  '* Marquise  von  0."  we  read  in  the  introductory  paragraph  the 
brief  description  of  the  heroine:  '*eine  Dame  von  vortrefflichem  Ruf 
und  Mutter  von  mehreren  wohlerzogenen  Kindern"  (p.  16).  Then 
follows  the  startling  advertisement,  a  brief  statement  of  the  incidents 
preceding  the  opening  of  the  story,  and  from  that  point  she  is  left  to 
disclose  her  own  nature  to  the  reader.  Overtaken  by  a  mysterious  and 
shameful  misfortune,  cast  off  by  her  mother,  threatened  with  death  by 
her  father,  she  sinks  down,  *'matt  bis  in  den  Tod."  Then  her  brother 
demands  her  children  and  she  rises  in  indignant  protest,  gathers 
them  into  her  arms  and  departs.  Kleist  comments:  **Durch  diese 
Bchone  Anstrengung  mit  sich  selbst  bekannt  gemacht,  hob  sie  sich 
plotzlich  wie  mit  ihrer  eignen  Hand,  aus  der  ganzen  Tiefe,  in  welche 
das  Schicksal  sie  herabgestiirzt  hatte,  empor. — Ihr  Verstand,  stark 
genug,  in  ihrer  sonderbaren  Lage  nicht  zu  reissen,  gab  sich  ganz  unter 
der  grossen,  heiligen  und  unerklarlichen  Einrichtung  der  Welt 
gefangen."  The  scene  in  her  country  home,  when  we  find  her  employed 
in  practical  work  and  determined  to  rise  above  her  misfortune,  but 
unwilling  to  involve  any  one  else  in  her  disgrace  (p.  40);  her  hatred  of 
the  count  when  his<  dastardly  deed  is  revealed  to  her  and  her  refusal  to 
marry  him  whom  she  despises,  though  thereby  she  might  save  herself 
much  misery,  are  self-revealing  exponents  of  her  individuality 
(IV,  o4ff.).2 

In  '*Die  Verlobung"  again  the  character  of  Toni  is  the  center  of 
interest.  The  awakening  of  her  moral  sense  through  her  love  for  Gustav 
is  minutely  traced.  At  first,  when  her  mother  calls  her  to  her  customary 
task  of  decoying  the  stranger  to  his  death,  she  responds  as  a  matter  of 
course;  her  sole  consideration  is  for  her  own  safety:  **Ist*er  auch  allein, 
Mutter?  und  haben  wir  nichts  zu  befiirchten?"     As  she  leads  the  half- 

*An  interesting  contrast  to  this  technique  is  to  be  found  inTSchiller's  "Verbrecher  aus 
Verlorener  Ehre,"  in  which  the  lengthy  psychological  discussion  at  the  beginning  is  followed  by 
many  paragraphs  of  philosophical  reflection  and  description. 

2Cf.  Brahm,  H.  v.  K.,  166.  Kleist's  individualistic  treatment  can  best  be  judged  by 
comparing  his  artistic  version  of  the  "  Marquise"  with  the  raw  material  of  his  sources.  Cf . 
Muncker,  AUg.  Zt.    1882,  p.  2242,  and  R.  M.  Werner,  Vierteljhrschr.,  f.  L.  Ill,  483. 


34  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

suspicious  stranger  into  the  house,  she  holds  the  h'ght  so  that  the 
brightest  beams  shall  strike  her  seductive  face.  She  is  mischievous 
and  playful,  with  no  thought  of  the  wrong  she  is  doing.  But  gradually 
the  stranger's  personality  exerts  an  influence  upon  her.  She  becomes 
silent  and  thoughtful.  The  story  of  her  European  ancestry,  told  by 
the  old  negress  to  allay  Gustav's  fears,  seems  to  arouse  dormant  instincts 
in  her:  "...  worauf  Toni,  mit  aufgestlitzten  Armen  in  sein  Antlitz 
sah,"  "Toni  fragte  ihn,  ob  er  einen  solchen  Herrn  in  Frankreich 
kenne,"  "Toni,  welche  den  Kopf  gedankenvoll  auf  ihre  Hand  gelegt 
hatte,  fragte  den  Fremden,  wer  er  denn  ware,  wo  er  herkiime,  und  wo 
er  hinginge."  Then  the  cause  of  this  hatred  of  race  for  race  arouses 
her  curiosity.  We  are  made  to  feel  that  heretofore  she  had  accepted 
the  atrocities  and  horrors  about  her  with  the  unthinking  acquiescence 
of  a  child,  undisturbed  by  events  that  do  not  immediately  affect  its  own 
comfort  or  happiness.  N"ow  she  asks:  "Wodurch  sich  denn  die  Weissen 
so  verhasst  gemacht  batten?"  Gustav's  long  explanation  evidently 
mclines  her  in  favor  of  the  white  race.  When  he  asks  her  if  she  could 
be  guilty  of  the  treachery  of  the  negro  girl  who  inoculated  her  former 
lover  with  yellow  fever  under  pretense  of  an  embrace,  she  seems 
suddenly  to  become  aware  of  her  own  duplicity:  "Nein,  sagte  Toni, 
indem  sie  verwirrt  vor  sich  niedersah."  Thus  by  means  of  gradually 
awakening  curiosity,  interest,  introspection,  sympathy,  she  is  led  step 
by  step,  until,  won  by  his  caresses  and  moved  by  pity  for  his  grief,  she 
surrenders  completely.  From  this  point  there  is  no  more  hesitancy. 
Heart  and  soul  she  is  on  the  side  of  her  lover's  race.  Not  only  for 
Gustav  but  also  for  his  family  she  risks  her  life.  Her  sense  of  right 
is  awakened,  and  she  declares  to  the  utterly  confounded  Babekan, 
"indem  die  Eothe  des  Unwillens  ihr  Gesicht  iiberflog,  dass  es  schandlich 
und  unertraglich  ware,  das  Gastrecht  an  Personen,  die  man  in  das 
Haus  gelockt,  zu  verletzen."  She  disavows  her  past  complicity  in  the 
deeds  of  violence  and  is  ready  and  willing  to  risk  her  life  in  resisting 
them  in  this  case  (IV,  172). 

Occasionally  a  minor  person  illustrates  Kleist's  technique.  Thus 
the  impulsive,  brave,  laconic  colonel  in  "Marquise"  is  delineated 
with  a  few  bold  strokes.  When  the  fortress  of  which  he  is  com- 
mander is  attacked  before  his  family  has  left  it,  he  wastes  no  words: 
"Der  Obrist  erklarte  gegen  seine  Familie,  dass  er  sich  nunmehr  ver- 
halten  wiirde,  als  ob  sie  nicht  vorhanden  ware;  und  antwortete  mit 
Kugeln  und  Granaten."  When  the  inexplicable  behavior  of  the  young 
count  sets  the  whole  family  wondering,  the  colonel  refuses  to  take  part 


KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL  35 

in  such  idle  and  fruitless  conjecturing:  "Der  Commandant  sagte, 
dass  er  von  der  Sache  nichts  verstehe  und  forderte  die  Familie  auf, 
davon  weiter  nichts  in  seiner  Gegenwart  zu  sprechen"  (p.  28).  In 
the  same  laconic  manner  he  takes  affairs  into  his  own  hands  when  the 
excitement  of  the  Marquise  at  the  discovery  of  the  identity  of  her 
betrayer  renders  her  incapable  of  explaining  herself.  "Der  Vater, 
der  sie  offenbar  in  einem  uberreizten  Gemiithszustande  sah,  erklilrte, 
dass  sie  ihr  Wort  halten  miisse;  verliess  sie  und  ordnete  alles,  .  .  .  zur 
Vermilhlung  an." 

The  other' novels  are  not  so  purely  psychological  in  their  interest  as 
these  three.  Yet  the  character  of  Nicolo  in  "Findling"  is  finely 
chiseled.  From  the  moment  when  the  kind-hearted  Piachi  adopts  him 
in  place  of  the  beloved  child  lost  on  his  account,  and  the  boy  sits  opposite 
with  a  face  "das  ernst  und  klug,  seine  Miene  niemals  veranderte," 
through  the  various  significant  acts  related  in  the  story,  Nicolo 
stands  out  clear  in  every  outline.  At  fifteen  he  was  seduced  by  a 
cardinal's  mistress  (p.  207),  and  after  his  marriage  with  the  niece  of 
his  benefactor,  he  carries  on  the  liaison  (p.  209),  mingling  with  it  a 
fanatical  bigotry  (p.  207).  His  absolute  heartlessness  reveals  itself  on 
the  night  of  his  young  wife's  funeral  (p.  211)  and  reaches  its  climax 
in  the  attack  upon  the  wife  of  his  benefactor  (p.  218),  which  displays 
at  once  his  sensuality,  cruelty,  and  shamelessness.  He  is  perhaps 
unnatural  in  the  extreme  of  his  unrelieved  wickedness,  but  the  method 
of  drawing  is  unmistakably  that  of  Kleist. 

The  two  salient  points  in  Kleist 's  manner  of  characterization,  as 
seen  in  this  analysis,  are:  his  persons  are  self-explanatory  through  their 
actions  and  speech,  they  are  represented  not  as  complete,  but  as 
growing  individualities. 

Hebbel  describes  his  own  method  in  a  letter  to  the  Princess 
Wittgenstein  in  1858:^  "Er  (Schiller)  lasst  den  Sturm  elementarisch  in 
seine  Welt  hineinbrausen,  ich  suche  ihn  aus  Athemziigen  entstehen  zu 
lassen;  darin  liegt  aber  auch  die  einzige  Berechtigung  meiner  Arbeit."^ 
Hebbel  was  writing  in  reference  to  his  "Demetrius,"  but  the  same 
method  is  observable  in  his  early  works.  In  his  first  novel,  "Barbier 
Zitterlein,"  the  opening  chapter  lays  bare,  in  a  conversation  between 
Zitterlein  and  Agnes,  the  mainsprings  of  the  former's  personality. 
We  see  his  absorbing  and  exclusive  love  for  his  daughter:  "Du  bist 

^Br.  II,  473. 

2  Cf .  also  Tb.  I,  56,  where  H.  contrasts  tne  methods  of  characterizatiorfsQiployed  by  Schiller 
and  Goethe  and  places  Kleist  with  the  latter  in  his^ability  to  trace  "die  ewigen  Modificationen 
des  Menschen  durch  jeden  Schritt,  den  er  thut." 


36  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

das  einzige  Gut,  was  meiii  ist,  das  von  Tag  zu  Tag  inniger  mit  mir 
verwachst;  ich  will  nur  dich,  nur  dich!"  His  misanthropy  soon 
becomes  apparent:  *'Doch  sie  (die  Menschen)  sind  mir  in  tiefster  Seele 
verhasst,  wenn  sie  mir  naher  treteii."  When  his  daughter  tries  to 
make  him  see  the  advantage  of  having  an  apprentice  in  the  house,  his 
ever-ready  suspicion  leaps  forth:  "Du  wirst  weniger  Langeweile  haben, 
nicht  wahrV"  As  is  usual  with  morbidly  affected  men,  he  indignantly 
spurns  the  suggestion  that  he  might  be  ill:  "Xein,  nein,  ich  bin 
nicht  krank,  ich  sehe  bloss?  voraus,  wie  alles  kommen  wird!"  Very 
delicately  the  signs  of  incipient  madness  are  indicated:  *'Giebt  es  nicht 
Gesichter,  die  mich  anstarren,  wie  Larven  der  Holle,  Augen,  deren 
feindseliger,  vernich tender  Strahl  mich  todtet?"  Very  dexterously, 
Zitterlein  is  made  to  bring  about  by  his  suspicions  that  very  catastrophe 
which  utterly  unbalances  his  mind.  Similar  to  this  is  the  motif  which 
Hebbel  praised  in  Kleist's  "Schroffenstein."^  Just  as  Euprecht's 
suspicions  lead  to  the  commission  of  those  very  crimes  which  before 
had  had  no  existence  except  in  his  morbid  imagination,  so  Zitterlein 's 
suspicious  actions  bring  the  love  of  Agnes  and  Leonhardt  to  a  climax 
(VIII,  52  ff.). 

In  this  story  Hebbel  makes  a  digression  into  the  man's  past  in  order 
to  motive  his  action  more  subtly.^  Zitterlein's  isolation  during  child- 
hood and  youth,  his  thwarted  ambitions,  his  marriage  with  a  woman  as 
retiring  by  nature  as  himself,  the  loss  of  his  adored  wife — all  these  facts 
are  so  told  and  arranged  as  to  lay  bare  before  the  reader  the  progress 
of  his  growth  (VIII,  43  ff.)- 

The  hero's  subsequent  acts,  from  the  first  traces  of  madness  in 
the  scene  at  his  daughter's  bedside  to  the  monomania  of  the  last 
scenes,  reveal  his  further  development  along  the  lines  indicated  by 
the  story  of  the  past.  No  explanation  by  the  author  is  attempted. 
The  climax  shows  a  striking  similarity  to  that  of  **Kohlhaas." 
Both  men  attained  an  inward  peace  by  determining  upon  a  deed  of 
violence,  a  deed  destined  to  bring  them  into  conflict  with  the  world 
and  its  laws.^ 

Similar  to  Kohlhaas  is  Anna,  heroine  of  the  story  of  that  name. 
Like  him  she  is  drivdn,  by  the  injustice  of  the  powerful,  past  the  limits 
of  endurance.  Then  her  vengeance  falls  on  innocent  and  guilty  alike. 
As  in  "Kohlhaas,"  fire  is  the  instrument  of  retribution — a  fitting  one, 

»Cf.  Tb.  I,  107. 

»  Kuh,  Hebbel,  I,  653,  says  a  propos  of  this  passage:  "Bei  Kleist  ist  die  Vorgeschichte  seiner 
Helden  leise  angedeutet,  bei  Hebbel  ausgeftihrt." 

» Cf.  J.  Schmidt,  Introd.  to  Kleist's  Wks.,  I,  p.  liv. 


KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL  37 

since  it  is  that  one  of  the  elements  which,  though  set  in  motion  hy 
man,  grows  most  completely  out  of  his  control.  True  to  Hebbel's 
conception  of  woman,^  she  is  not,  like  Kohlhaas,  initiative  in  her 
revenge,  but  when  the  accidental  upsetting  of  the  light  sets  fire  to  her 
persecutor's  castle  at  the  very  moment  when  her  world  seems  crumbling 
under  her  feet,  she  cries:  *'Ei,  was  losch  ich?  lass!  lass!"  and  shuts 
the  door  upon  the  flames.  The  steps  that  bring  her  to  this  desperate 
climax  are  most  carefully  traced.  We  see  her  at  the  commencement  of 
the  story,  busy  and  gay,  rejoicing  in  her  young  strength  and  in  the 
bright  world  about  her.  Then  we  witness  the  uncalled-for  harshness 
of  the  young  rake,  her  master,  "who  would  gladly  have  found  her 
wanton  in  the  arbor  a  few  days  before."  Like  Kohlhaas  she  makes  a 
struggle  for  self-control,  only  to  meet  with  physical  maltreatment  (VIII, 
230).  Her  fellow-servants,  to  whom  she  has  shown  nothing  but  kind- 
ness, shower  scorn  and  contumely  upon  her  with  all  the  petty  malice  of 
the  vulgar  of  soul  against  moral  superiority  (VIII,  232).  And  to  all 
this  Anna  can  say  nothing.  The  dumb  rage  which  we  see  growing 
within  her  bursts  its  bonds  with  elemental  force  when  all  her  self- 
control  and  strict  adherence  to  duty  bring  on  her  the  suspicions  and  the 
defection  of  her  lover.  The  extreme  care  with  which  liebbel  brought 
out  the  various  traits  of  Anna's  character  is  equal  to  that  which 
Kleist  devoted  to  that  of  Kohlhaas.  A  few  incidental  descriptive 
remarks  are  intended  to  show  the  impulsiveness  of  the  girl:  "Sie  hatte 
ein  scbarfes  Wort  auf  der  Zunge,  wiihrend  ihr  die  Thranen  unaufhaltsam 
aus  den  Augen  drangen."  Like  Kleist,  Hebbel  is  fond  of  indicating 
emotional  excitement  by  a  rush  of  blood  to  the  head,  so  here:  "Sie 
ergliihte  iiber  und  uber."  "Da  sie  mit  brennenden  Wangen  auf  ihren 
Teller  niederblickte."  This  passionate  impulsiveness  culminates  in 
the  sudden  and  unexpected  attack  upon  the  gardener.  But  the  other 
side  of  her  character,  the  light-hearted,  cheerful,  kind  and  gentle  side, 
is  also  brought  out.  Her  indignation  at  the  scullery  boy  shows  that 
when  he  lay  ill  and  neglected  she  cared  for  him.  Before  she  is  molested, 
she  sings  gaily  about  her  work,  and  the  very  extent  of  her  anger  at 
being  prevented  from  attending  the  dance  to  which  her  fellow-servants 
set  out  so  merrily,  shows  her  pleasure-loving  nature.  Gentle  modesty 
and  deep  tenderness  mark  her  interview  with  her  lover,  in  the 
flax-room  where  she  had  spent  her  long,  lonely  afternoon  (VIII,  234). 
I^n  Hebbel's  "Kuh"  the  opening  sentence  shows  us  Andreas  engaged 

^  Tb.  I,  p.  186:  "In  der  Judith  zeichne  ich  die  That  eines  Weibes,  also  den  argsten  Contrast, 
dies  Wollen  und  nicht  KOnnen,  dies  Thun,  was  doch  kein  Handeln  ist." 


38  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

in  a  most  significant  act:  he  is  counting  money.  As  each  one  of 
the  bank  notes  calls  np  the  circumstance  under  which  it  was  acquired, 
the  narrow  scope  of  the  man's  life  and  his  concentration  upon  thrift 
and  acquisition  become  more  and  more  apparent.  The  low,  smoky 
room,  the  luxury  of  the  Sunday  pipe,  give  the  fitting  atmosphere.  The 
little  child  whom  he  evidently  loves  shows  the  vista  of  his  hopes  for  the 
future.  His  rage  at  seeing  these  hopes  suddenly  frustrated  can  find 
no  outlet  in  words,  only  a  brutal  blow  can  relieve  him.  There  is  a 
horrible  logic  in  the  events  that  follow,  and  the  terror  is  increased  by 
the  inability  of  the  participants  to  express  themselves.^ 

The  character  of  Matteo,  in  the  story  of  that  name,  is  drawn  on 
very  simple  lines.  More  even  than  Anna  and  much  more  than  Kohl- 
haas,  is  he  contented  with  the  world  as  he  finds  it  during  his  prosperous 
days.  Much  greater,  therefore,  is  his  bewilderment  and  helplessness 
when  he  is  confronted  with  misfortune  and  injustice.  Step  by  step 
we  are  led  to  see  this  change.  First  we  hear  of  his  happiness  in  his 
simple  life;  then  comes  illness  and  loneliness;  for  the  first  time  he  has 
a  strong  desire ;  then  comes  his  first  disappointment — the  cruel  blow  of 
Felicita's  marriage — intensified  by  her  too  evident  horror  at  the  dis- 
figurement that  his  illness  brought  in  its  train  (VIII,  203).  Her  recoil 
signified  his  exile  from  the  world  of  love  because  of  his  ugliness;  from 
the  world  of  work  he  is  turned  from  the  same  cause.  We  see  him 
gradually  realize  his  condition  and  then,  in  despair,  sink  step  by 
step,  until  he  is  an  outcast  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  murder. 
Less  clear,  perhaps,  is  the  turn  for  the  better.  The  fact  that  he  is 
trusted  for  the  sake  of  that  very  ugliness  which  had  made  him  an 
outcast  soothes  him,  while  the  sight  of  the  passion  and  guilt  of  the 
other  actors  of  the  drama  sobers  him.  The  closing  sentence,  *'Er  .  .  . 
sohnte  sich  mit  der  ewigen  Macht,  die  den  Eeif  wohl  zuweilen  zerbricht, 
ihn  aber  doch  .  .  .  wieder  zusammenfiigt  .  .  .  aus,"  reminds  one  of 
Kleist's  words  concerning  the  Marquise:  "Ihr  Verstand,  .  .  .  gab  sich 
ganz  unter  der  grossen,  heiligen  und  unerklarlichen  Einrichtnng  der 
Welt  gefangen." 

The  rest  of  HebbePs  stories  are  mainly  character  sketches.  The 
careful  delineation  which  we  have  observed  in  the  more  dramatic  tales 
is  naturally  carried  on  here  with  even  greater  minuteness.  In  the 
introduction  to  "Schnock"  Hebbel  declares  his  intention:  "Ihn  treu, 

*  The  care  with  which  Hebbel  hewed  out  the  form  of  this  little  tale  is  apparent  in  a  note 
of  his  diary  (Jan.,  1849):  "  'DieKuh'  geschlossen.  Ich  habe  mich  seit  meinem letzten  Aufent- 
halt  in  Hamburg  (1843)  damit  getragen,  so  klein  sie  ist."     (Tb.  II,  312.) 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  39 

bis  in  das  Haargewebe  seiner  Bestimmungsgrunde  hinein  zu  zeichnen" 
(p.  152).  He  therefore  lets  Schnock  himself  trace  his  fear  of  marriage 
back  to  an  experience  of  bis  tenth  year,  when  he  saw  his  enraged  mother 
bite  his  father  and  vowed  "niemals  wieder  einen  Menschen  an  dem  Ort, 
wo  er  Zahne  hat,  zu  klissen."  His  cowardice  he  attributes  to  his  early- 
training:  "Ich  durfte  nicht  an  dea  Bach  gehen,  denn  meine  Mutter 
fiirohtete,  ich  mochte  ertrinken." 

Both  in  "Schnock"  and  in  "Pauls  merkwiirdigste  Nacht,"  which 
reads  like  a  preliminary  sketch  for  "Schnock,"  Hebbel  delights  in 
showing  the  mental  process  by  which  a  coward  is  driven  into  an 
apparently  brave  action  by  fear.  Schnock  (who  knows  himself  a  little 
too  well)  tells  the  motive  of  his  one  brave  deed — the  capture  of  the 
thief  with  which  the  story  opens — "nicht  aus  Tapferkeit  sondern  aus 
Furcht,  machte  ich  mich  iiber  ihn  her,  rang  mit  ihm,  und  warf  ihn  zu 
Boden." 

As  "Schnock"  and  "Paul"  are  studies  in  cowardice,  so  "Die  beiden 
Vagabunden"  and  "Haidvogel"  trace  the  sensations  and  the  impulses 
to  action  of  irresponsible,  selfish,  happy-go-lucky  yet  not  wholly  vicious 
scamps.  In  "Die  beiden  Vagabunden"  Hebbel  has  carefully  differenti- 
ated little,  dapper,  clever  Jiirgen,  who  takes  an  artistic  pleasure  in  living 
by  his  wits,  from  heavy,  stupid  Hans,  who  cares  only  for  his  creature 
comforts,  and  whines  and  wishes  himself  back  with  his  master  every 
time  anything  goes  wrong.  This  Hebbel,  like  Kleist,  does  by  means 
of  a  few  telling  situations.  When  the  goat  looks  in  at  the  inn 
window,  thus  accidentally  confirming  Jiirgen's  yarn,  Hans  is  as  badly 
frightened  as  the  peasants  for  whose  benefit  the  tale  was  concocted : 
"Jiirgen  sah  Hans,  der  ganz  blass  geworden  war,  triumphirend  an." 
When  the  host  caught  Jiirgen  in  a  palpable  contradiction,  the  difference 
between  the  two  friends  is  marked:  "I^ans  hustete  und  strich  sich  mit 
der  Hand  iiber  die  Stirn ;  Jiirgen  aber,  statt  in  Verwirrung  zu  gerathen, 
versetzte  mit  unvergleichlicher  Unverschamtheit:  *Ihr  habt  Eecht'  und 
fuhr  ruhig  fort"  (p.  126). 

Haidvogel  reveals  himself  in  the  most  natural  and  incidental  manner 
by  his  speech  and  actions.  The  underlying  trait  in  his  character, 
which  shows  through  all  he  does,  is  his  personal  vanity,  though  this 
is  never  stated  by  the  author.  Almost  the  first  words  that  we  hear 
him  say  show  this.  He  speaks  to  his  wife:  "Warum  siehst  Du  mich 
nicht  an?  ziehst  Du  wieder,  wie  gewohnlich,  im  Stillen  einen  Vergleich 
zwischen  mir  und  dem  Quacksalber  von  Doktor,  der  auch  einmal  hinter 
Dir  herhef?"     This  same  vanity  causes  his  downfall  at  the  inn,  where 


40  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

his  desire  for  display  leads  to  the  recognition  of  the  purse  he  had 
found:  *'Haidvogel  wollte  aber  durchaus  auch  von  ihm  beneidet 
werden." 

A  good  example  of  Hebbel's  careful  delineation  of  a  minor  character 
is  Haidvogel's  wife.  Silently  she  broods  over  her  hard  lot — for  it  is  to 
be  noted  how  few  and  short  are  her  remarks — while  a  firmness  of 
will  is  slowly  developing,  which  comes  to  the  surface  at  the  proper 
time.  A  latent  strength  is  apparent  all  the  time  in  her  maintenance  of 
innate  refinement  in  these  uncongenial  surroundings,  as  shown  in  casual 
remarks.  When  the  children  would  delight  in  repeating  to  their  father 
the  impertinent  messages  of  the  butcher  and  the  baker  to  his  request 
for  credit,  she  silences  them:  *'Euer  Vater  weiss  Alles,  nun  zu  Bett 
miteuch."  When  Haidvogel  received  the  gift  of  the  cattleman  with 
sovereign  ingratitude,  she  "trug  ihm  eine  herzliche  Danksagung  auf." 
The  repressed  bitterness  which  her  silence  covers  occasionally  breaks 
out;  when  the  servant  who  brings  the  news  of  her  inheritance  utters  a 
clumsy  apology,  she  exclaims:  *'Hattet  Ihr  das  gewusst,  so  hattet  Ihr 
meinen  Theodor  zuweilen  in  den  Garten  gelassen,  weil  ihn  die  rothen 
Beeren  lockten."  These  are  the  signs  that  prepare  us  for  the  strong 
stand  which  she  finally  takes  when  her  husband  plans  to  waste  the  newly 
acquired  wealth  in  the  old  way:  "  'Nichts  kannst  Du,'  versetzte  die 
Frau,  die  inzwischen  ihr  diinnes  Umschlagtuch  umgenommen  und  sich 
zum  Fortgehen  angeschickt  hatte,  ' — ich  werde  dafiir  sorgen,  dass  das 
Jammerleben,  das  jetzt  zu  Ende  ist,  nicht  wieder  anfangen  kann.' " 
This  rising  above  her  troubles  and  providing  for  her  children  and 
herself  a  life  worth  living,  is  a  note  very  similar  to  that  struck  in  the 
**Marquise  von  0."  when  the  heroine  leaves  her  father's  house.  Even 
less  than  Kleist,  in  the  above  mentioned  story,  does  Hebbel  step  in  to 
elucidate  the  inner  life  of  the  woman.  Not  one  word  of  explanation 
accompanies  her  action  and  speech.^  These  sketches  bear  many  marks 
of  the  influence  of  Jean  Paul,  both  in  subject-matter  and  in  the  satiri- 
cal method  of  treatment.  Their  relationship  with  Kleist  consists  in 
the  persistence  with  which  the  personages  are  made  to  reveal  them- 
selves to  us  in  their  actions,  and  in  the  absence  of  intrusion  on  the  part 
of  the  author. 

Thus  character  forms  the  contents  of  the  novels  of  Kleist  and 
Hebbel,  and  the  people  depicted  betray  a  certain  resemblance.     Both 

*  Compare  with  this  reserve  Hoffmann's  description  of  the  character  and  attitude  of  Clara 
in  "Der  Sandmann."  Her  sentiments,  sufferings,  attempts  at  reclaiming  her  lover  and  her  final 
release  are  given  in  full. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  41 

authors  prefer  to  show  the  man  growing  and  changing  under  the  stress 
of  circumstances  rather  than  the  completed  personality  whose  strength 
is  merely  tested  by  the  adversities  of  life.  Herein  they  are  followers 
of  Goethe.  But  from  Goethe's  heroes,  as  well  as  from  those  of  the 
Romanticists  and  of  the  Young  Germans,  their  heroes  differ  in  that 
they  all  display  a  definite  and  determined  will.  Here  again  we 
recognize  the  dramatist.  Kohlhaas,  Marquise,  Toni,  and  Gustav,  as 
well  as  Anna,  Andreas,  Matteo,  and  Zitterlein,  shape  their  own  fate  by 
a  determined  resistance  to  injury  or  a  definite  initiative  action.  They 
are  not  driven  hither  and  thither  by  mere  accident  nor  are  they 
controlled  by  mysterious  powers,  as  are  Abdallah  or  William  Lovell, 
Ofterdingen  or  Wilhelm  Meister,^  Casar  in  Gutzkow's  *'Wally,"  or  the 
hero  of  Mundt's  ''Madonna." 

In  the  method  of  presentation  our  authors  also  proceed  in  the  same 
manner,  making  their  heroes  self-revealing  by  bringing  together  a 
number  of  highly  significant  deeds  and  words  which  elucidate  the 
various  phases  of  their  being. 

Concerning  the  inner  form  of  the  novels  of  Hebbel  and  Kleist  we 
note  as  points  in  common:  (1)  the  closely  knit,  concentrated  structure, 
(2)  the  unity  of  interest,  which  remains  fixed  on  the  hero,  (3)  the 
complete  retiring  of  the  author  behind  his  figures,  (4)  the  psychological 
development  of  the  characters,  (5)  the  strongly  initiative  will  of  the 
hero.     In  other  words,  the  inner  form  of  these  tales  is  dramatic. 

^  Cf.  Mielke,  1.  c,  54.  Also  Donner,  "Der  Einfluss  Wilhelm  Meisters,"  20.  Ricarda  Huch, 
(Bluthezeit,  134)  designates  the  heroes  of  the  Lovell  type  as  "gebildete  Vagabunden."  Minor 
(Z.  f.  d.  Ph.  XXII,  218)  describes  the  heroes  of  Eichendorff's  novels:  Die  helden  abenteuern 
ohne  sichtbaren  zweck  und  deutliches  ziel  als  echte  romantische  vagabunden  heimatlos  hin  und 
her. 


Ill 

OUTER  FORM 

DESCRIPTION" 

The  dramatic  objectivity  noted  in  the  general  structure  of  the 
tales  is  observable  in  the  details  of  technique.^  Two  points  in  Kleist's 
descriptions  are  striking:  (1)  the  vivid  impression  which  his  people 
and  objects  make  on  the  reader,  and  (2)  the  subordination  of  the 
description  to  the  action.  Both  traits  are  found  bound  up  together  in 
all  examples  cited  by  Minde-Pouet  and  Feierfeil.*^ 

Significant  for  both  Kleist  and  Hebbel  is  the  habit  of  introducing 
a  new  person  briefly  and  without  any  prolonged  catalogue  of  fea- 
tures or  traits  of  character.  The  aim  is  to  hasten  on  to  the  action. 
Thus  in  Kleist's  stories,  "ein  Rosshiindler  namens  Kohlhaas"  (IV, 
58),  "ein  junger,  auf  ein  Verbrechen  angeklagter  Spanier"  (IV,  1), 
*'die  verwittwete  Marquise  von  0."  (IV,  16),  "ein  russischer  Offizier" 
(IV,  18b),  "ein  fiirchterlicher  alter  Neger,  namens  Congo  Hoango" 
(IV,  155),  "eine  juuge  fiinfzehnjahrige  Mestizze"  (IV,  156),  are  briefly 
brought  before  the  reader. 

The  same  technique  is  observable  in  Hebbel's  stories,  though  not  to 
the  same  extent  as  in  Kleist's.  In  "Barbier  Zitterlein"  the  hero  is 
introduced  with  a  simple  mention  of  his  name,  and  a  little  later  we 
read:  "Eine  helle  Lampe  beleuchtete  das  Gesicht  des  langen,  diinnen 
Mannes  .  .  ."  (VIII,  33).  The  heroine  is  only  mentioned  byname: 
"seine  Tochter  Agathe"    (VIII,    33).     In    "Der    Rubin"    the    hero 

*  Minde-Pouet  (Sprache  und  Stil)  has  somewhat  unreasonably  separated  "Detailsschil- 
derung"  (pp.  69-78)  from  "Wie  weit  beschreibt  der  Dichter"  (pp.  80-82),  as  if  they  were  two 
different  things.  Between  them  he  inserts  "Objectivitat"  (78-80).  This  arrangement  is 
misleading,  since  accurate  visualization  of  persons  and  vivid  description  by  means  of  action 
together  arise  from  Kleist's  objective  relation  to  his  problems  and  his  dramatic  imagination. 

aCf.  Minde-Pouet,  1.  c,  64  ff.;   Feierfeil,  "Verlobung  u.  Toni,"  14  ff.;   Brahm,  154  ff. 

42 


KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL  43 

receives  brief  mention:  *' Assad,  ein  junger  Tlirke"  (VIII,  69),  and 
only  in  the  accusation  of  the  jeweler  do  we  gather  any  details  as  to  his 
personal  appearance  (VIII,  70).  Leonhardt  is  presented  by  the  host 
as  "ein  stiller,  netter  Bursch,"  and  Zitterlein  finds  him  "von 
ahnsehnlicher  Statur,  hatte  blaue  Augen,  blondes  Haar  und  viele 
Freundlichkeit  im  Benehmen"  (VIII,  35).  "Anna,  die  junge  Magd" 
(VIII,  229),  "Paul"  (VIII,  237),  "der  Bauer  Andreas"  (VIII,  245), 
receive  no  further  comment.^ 

The  two  vagabonds  and  Nepomuk  Schlagel  are  described  more  in 
detail  (116  and  250).  Yet  even  these  descriptions  are  conspicuous 
for  an  epigrammatic  terseness,  and  only  the  salient  features  that  strike 
the  eye  because  of  their  characterizing  quality  are  briefly  mentioned. 

Description  by  means  of  the  effect  produced  on  the  onlooker  is  a 
favorite  method  with  both  writers.  In  this  manner  we  obtain  the 
exquisite  picture  of  Toni:  "Und  wahrend  das  Madchen  auf  ihre  Kuiee 
vor  ihm  hingekauert,  die  kleinen  Vorkehrungen  zum  Bade  besorgte, 
betrachtete  er  (Gustav)  ihre  einnehmende  Gestalt.  Ihr  Haar,  in 
dunkeln  Locken  schwellend,  war  ihr,  als  sie  niederkniete,  auf  ihre 
jungen  Briiste  herabgerollt ;  ein  Zug  von  ausnehmender  Anmuth 
spielte  um  ihre  Lippen  und  iiber  ihre  langen,  liber  die  gesenkten  Augen 
hervorragenden  Augenwimper;  er  hatte,  bis  auf  die  Farbe,  die  ihm 
anstossig  war,  schworen  mogen,  dass  er  nie  etwas  Schoneres  gesehen" 
(IV,  167).  Thus  we  receive  the  impression  which  Nicolo  in  "Findling" 
makes  on  Piachi  (IV,  206).  In  the  same  story  Elvire's  beauty  was 
not  mentioned  until  she  attracted  Nicolo's  attention  by  means  of  it 
(IV,  212).  In  "Cacilie"  the  abbess  is  minutely  described  only  when 
the  mother  of  the  unfortunate  young  men  sees  her  (IV,  202).  In 
"Erdbeben"  the  flight  of  the  frightened  people  and  the  picturesque 
encampment  on  the  green  are  seen  through  the  eyes  of  Jeronimo  (IV, 
3  £f.,  9).  The  two  excellent  descriptions  of  Kohlhaas's  horses  are 
given  in  the  same  manner.  The  first  time  the  delight  of  the  young 
squires  on  beholding  them  gives  a  lively  picture,  full  of  motion  such 
as  Kleist  loves:  "Sie  flogen,  da  sie  die  glanzende  Koppel  sahen,  .  .  . 
in  den  Hof  hinab;  .  .  .  der  eine  lobte  den  Schweissfuchs  mit  der 
Blesse,  dem  andern  gefiel  der  Kastanienbraune,  der  dritte  streichelte 
den  Flecken;  und  Alle  meinten,  dass  die  Pferde  wie  Hirsche  waren  und 
im  Lande  keine  besseren  gezogen  wiirden"  (IV,  61).     As  a  contrast  to 

*  Compare'with  this  the  lengthy  descriptions  with  which  Hoffmann  introduces  his  characters, 
giving  us  a  full  catalogue  of  their  features — color  of  eyes  and  hair,  height,  age,  size,  physical 
and  mental  peculiarities.   (Sandmann,V,  11  and21;  Das  Ode  Haus,  V,  148;  Majorat,  V,  172,  etc.) 


44  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

this  is  the  scene  that  greeted  Kohlhaas  on  his  return:  *'Wie  gross  war 
aber  sein  Erstaunen,  als  er  statt  seiner  zwei  glatten  und  wohlgenabrten 
Happen,  ein  Paar  diirre  abgeharmte  Mahreri  erblickte;  Knochen,  denen 
man,  wie  Riegeln,  hatte  Sachen  aufhangen  konnen;  Mahnen  und  Haare 
ohne  Wartung  und  Pflege  znsammengeknetet:  das  wahre  Bild  des 
Elends  im  Thierreiche!  Kohlhaas,  den' die  Pferde  mit  einer  schwachen 
Bewegung  anwieherten,  war  auf  das  Aeusserste  entriistet  .  .  ."  (IV, 
64).  These  examples  show  plainly  that  no  description  is  given  for  its 
own  sake  or  ostensibly  for  the  reader,  but  in  every  case  for  the  sake  of 
the  effect  which  the  particular  object,  by  virtue  of  the  qualities  enumer- 
ated, has  upon  the  person  through  whose  medium  we  see  them.  Thus 
Toni's  beauty  aroused  the  admiration  of  Gustav  and  led  to  his  caresses. 
That  of  Elvire  aroused  the  desires  of  Nicolo.  The  handsome  horses 
stimulated  the  greed  of  the  young  lord  and  his  steward,  and  the  dis- 
graceful condition  of  the  horses,  as  Kohlhaas  found  them,  gave  rise  to 
the  scene  in  the  courtyard,  which  was  the  first  step  of  the  action. 

The  same  technique  is  observed  in  Hebbel's  method  of  describing. 
The  inn  in  "Die  beiden  Vagabunden"  is  presented  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  two  adventurers,  who  are  looking  through  the  window  (VIII, 
118).  The  sight  of  this  room,  with  its  evidently  opulent  but  bored 
occupants,  suggests  an  entire  scheme  of  action  to  the  nimble  mind  of 
one  of  the  onlookers.  This  scheme  assumes  more  definite  form  from 
what  he  notes  of  the  demeanor  of  Jakob,  upon  whom  he  fastens  as 
the  most  gullible  of  those  present  (VIII,  127  and  134).  In  "Eine 
Nacht  im  Jagerhause"  we  look  through  the  window  of  the  little  hut 
with  the  eyes  of  the  anxious  young  students  (VIII,  263).  Again  the 
description  of  the  room  is  given  to  show  its  effect  on  the  action.  The 
sight  of  the  uninviting  interior  causes  that  expression  of  distrust  and 
fear  on  the  part  of  the  students,  which,  overheard  and  resented  by  the 
owner  of  the  hut,  leads  directly  to  the  adventures  of  the  night  (VIII, 
263  and  272).  The  impression  which  the  students  receive  of  their  host 
is  calculated  to  increase  their  suspicions  and  hence  augment  the  hostility 
of  their  attitude  (VIII,  263  ff.).  In  "Der  Rubin"  we  read:  "Er 
(Assad)  erblickte  einen  altlichen  Mann  von  hoher,  gebietender  Gestalt 
mit  edlen  Ziigen,  in  denen  sich  ein  tiefer,  aber  ins  Innerste  zuriickge- 
drangter  Lebensschmerz  aussudriicken  schien"  (VIII,  77).  Here  the 
effect  of  Fatime's  disappearance  upon  her  father  is  skillfully  revealed 
to  Assad  and  to  us  by  what  the  latter  observed  in  one  glance.  In 
"Matteo"  the  disastrous  change  which  the  terrible  illness  caused  in 
the  appearance  of  the  hero  is  not  described  by  the  author  except  in  its 


KLEIST,  AND  HEBBEL  45 

effects  on  the  beholders.  The  horror  of  Felicita  (VIII,  203),  the 
repulsion  and  fear  of  his  former  employers  (VIII,  204),  and  his  own 
disgust  at  seeing  himself  in  the  glass  (VIII,  205),  form  an  artistic 
climax.  Thns  his  ugliness,  which  gradually  appears  to  him  as  an 
undeserved  curse,  embitters  him  and  leads  him  to  the  threshold  of 
crime.  The  other  characters  are  pictured  only  as  they  come  into  his 
life.  In  the  case  of  Felicita,  only  the  effect  of  her  beauty  on  him,  not 
the  beauty  itself,  is  described  (VIII,  202).  We  observe  that  Hebbel 
follows  minutely  Kleist's  method  of  portrayal  by  means  of  giving  the 
effect  produced  on  the  onlooker  with  special  reference  to  the  action  of 
the  story. 

Besides  these  longer  descriptions  we  find  in  both  authors  a  Wealth 
of  incidental  characterization  by  means  of  qualifying  words,  which, 
without  stopping  the  flow  of  the  narrative,  serve  to  dash  off  the  figure 
of  the  actor  with  a  single  telling  stroke. 

An  extreme  example  of  this  peculiar  point  of  technique  is  the 
well-known  picture  of  the  wretched  horses  in  the  market-place  of 
Dresden  and  of  the  man  who  has  come  with  them.  Here  the  detailed 
account  of  the  appearance  and  actions  of  the  beasts  and  the  man  who 
seems  but  little  above  their  level,  is  inimitable  (IV,  111  ff.),  though 
Julian  Schmidt  is  not  altogether  wrong  when  he  says  of  this  scene: 
"Wo  vielleicht  des  Guten  etwas  zu  viel  gethan  ist."^  Another  fre- 
quently quoted  example  is  found  in  "Die  Verlobung,"  in  which  Babekan 
gets  Toni  ready  to  decoy  Gustav  (154  ff. ).  The  description  here  fulfills  in 
every  respect  the  demand  made  by  Lessing  for  continued  motion  in 
the  picture.^  Equally  well  known  is  the  distinct  image  which  we  get 
of  Iloango's  house  in  the  course  of  the  narrative.^ 

In  "Kohlhaas"  the  appearance  of  the  steward  comes  vividly  before 
us  when  we  read:  "Der  Burgvogt,  indem  er  sich  noch  eine  Weste  iiber 
den  weitlaufigen  Leib  zuknopfte";  and  when  Kohlhaas  feels  a  strong 
inclination  *'den  nichtswiirdigen  Dickwanst  in  den  Koth  zu  werfen  und 
den  Fuss  auf  sein  kupfernes  Antlitz  zu  setzen."  Of  Junker  Wenzei 
we  read:  "Da  eben  das  Wetter  wieder  zu  stiirmen  anfing,  und  seine 
dlirren  Glieder  durchsauste" ;  and  Kohlhaas  smiles  "iiber  den  Witz 
des  diirren  Junkers."  The  effect  of  Kohlhaas's  vengeance  on  the 
arrogant  young  nobleman  is  not  described,  but  in  a  very  graphic  scene 
he  is  brought  before  us.     The  Landvogt  Otto  von  Gorgas,  "der  schon 

1  J,  Schmidt,  Introd.  to  Wks.,  I,  p.  liv. 

aCf.  Bischoff,  Lessings  Laokoon  und  Heinrich  von  Kleist,  Z.  f.  d.  U.  XII,  348.      Compare 
with  this  the  description  of  the  procession  in  "Schnock"  (VIII,  144), 
3Cf.  Feierfeil,  1.  c,  p.  15. 


46  KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL 

durch  seine  blosse  Gegenwart  dem  Volk  Ehrfurcht  und  Geliorsam 
einzuflossen  gewohnb  war,"  visits  the  young  nobleman  in  order  to  protect 
him  from  the  infuriated  mob,  though  hardly  able  to  conceal  his  own 
contempt  for  the  wretched  author  of  all  this  trouble.  He  finds  the 
Junker,  "der  aus  einer  Ohnmacht  in  die  andere  fiel,  unterden  Handen 
zweier  Aertzte,  .  .  .  Als  man  dem  Junker  ein  Wams  angelegt  und 
einen  Helm  aufgesetzt  hatte,  und  er,  die  Brust  wegen  Mangels  an  Luft 
noch  halb  oifen,  .  .  .  auf  der  Strasse  erschien,  .  .  .  wiihrend  welchem 
er  mehreremal,  ohne  ihn  zu  vermissen,  den  Helm  verier,  den  ihm  ein 
Ritter  von  hinten  wieder  aufsetzte.   .   .   ."^ 

That  Hebbel  had  this  same  vivid  realization  of  the  appearance  of 
his  characters  is  apparent  in  a  letter  written  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit 
to  Thorwaldsen's  studio  in  Copenhagen  in  1842,  a  time  in  which  he 
was  in  the  midst  of  his  novel  writing.  "Ich  fragte  ihn  ob  er  jedes 
Bild  klar  vor  seiner  Seele  stehen  habe,  wenn  er  zur  Ausfuhrung  schreite; 
er  erwiderte:  Ja.  Ich  horte  dies  gern,  denn  es  geht  mir  in  meiner 
Kunst  ebenso:  ich  kann  mir  von  einem  andern  Verfahren  gar  keine 
Vorstellung  machen."^  Therefore  he  also  mentions  the  gestures  and 
changes  of  expression  which  accompany  the  acts  and  words  of  his 
people,  so  that  we  see  them  vividly  before  us:  ".  .  .  Agathe  sah 
ihren  Vater  lange  an,  dann  legte  sie  die  Hande  kreuzweise  iiber  die 
Brust  und  sprach."  "Anna":  ".  .  .  wo  sie  ein  Licht  aus  dem 
Lichtkasten  nahm  und  sich  dann  mit  diesem,  es  mit  dariiber  gehaltener 
Hand  vor  dem  Zugwind  schiitzend,  in  die  Flachskammer  zuriickbegab. " 
*'Kuh":  *'Um  ihn  herum,  bald  zum  Vater  auf  die  Bank  kletternd  und 
ihm  ernsthaft  zuschauend,  bald  den  durch  die  offene  Thlir  aus-  und 
einwandelnden  gravitiitischen  Haushahn  jagend  und  neckend,  spielte 
sein  Kind."  "Hierbei  klopfte  er  sein  Knablein  auf  die  Wange  und 
reichte  ihm  eine  dem  Hahn  entfallene  bunte  Feder."  "...  diese 
Leiter  eilte  er  so  schnell  hinauf,  dass  ihm  sein  Hut,  den  er  nach 
Bauernsitte  im  Hause,  wie  auf  dem  Felde  trug,  dariiber  entfiel." 
"Nepomuk":  "Dem  Fleischer,  der  gerade,  die  messingne  Brille  auf 
der  Nase,  die  Bairische  Landbotin  liest,  ist  das  Crimen  entgungen." 
"V^agabunden":  "'Kind,'  sagte  die  Mutter,  und  putzte  mir  mit 
ihrem  Sacktuch  die  Nase,  ..."...  "frug  des  Wirthes  achtzigjahrige 
Schwiegermutter,  die,  das  weisse  Haupt  in  die  Hande  gelegt  und  die 

mother  examples  of  incidental  description  are  found  in  Zweikampf  (IV,  225);  Kohlhaas, 
"finster  und  in  sich  gekehrt"  (IV.  96);  of  dress,  Kohlhaas  (IV,  132  ff.),  Zweikampf  (IV,  235). 
The  effect  of  these  details  is  vivid  visualization. 

aCf.  Werner,  Euph.,  I,  268. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  47 

welken  Arme  auf  die  Kniee  gestiitzt,  in  einem  Winkel  kauerte.'  " 
"Haidvogel":  "  *Er  ist  .  .  .?'  sagte  die  Frau,  ihr  Auge  zum  ersten 
Mai  ein  wenig  erhebend,  wiihrend  ihre  Hand  von  dem  Haupte  des 
Kindes  herabglitt."  "Herr  Haidvogel  war  so  uberrascht,  dass  er  den 
Bchon  halbangezogenen  Rock  ganz  anzuziehen  vergass  und  mifc  dem 
possierlich  an  der  rechten  Seite  seines  Leibes  niederbaumelnden 
Kleidungsstilck  wie  eine  Vogelscheuche  dastand."^ 

Haidvogel's  house  and  the  hut  in  which  the  scene  of  "Die  Kuh"  is 
laid  are  made  familiar  to  us  in  the  course  of  the  action  in  the  same 
manner  as  Hoango's  house  in  Kleist's  "Verlobung."^  This  method  of 
vivid  but  indirect  description  is  very  striking  when  compared  to  the 
pages  of  direct  description  such  as  we  find  in  the  tales  of  Hoffmann, 
Tieck,  and  Eichendorff.  In  "Das  ode  Haus,"  for  instance,  the  water- 
ing place,  the  inhabitants^  their  mode  of  life,  and  the  house  in  which 
the  story  is  to  be  laid  are  all  painted  with  the  greatest  minuteness 
before  a  single  action  has  taken  place,  before  even  a  single  character 
has  been  introduced.  Evidently  here  the  author's  chief  aim  is  to  create 
the  atmosphere,  to  produce  the  proper  impression  on  the  reader's  mind, 
while  Kiel  St  and  Hebbel  aim  to  interest  him  in  the  action. 

In  description,  the  technique  of  both  authors  shows  the  following 
coincidences:  (1)  The  characters  are  introduced  in  the  briefest 
possible  manner,  in  order  that  the  action  may  proceed  at  once.  (2) 
Later  on,  the  effect  produced  on  the  actors  by  people  or  places  is  given 
in  lieu  of  direct  description  for  the  benefit  of  the  reader.  (3)  These 
descriptions  are  given  only  when  the  effect  on  the  onlooker  is  of  a  nature 
to  hasten  the  action.  (4)  The  clear  visualization  of  both  writers 
appears  in  the  incidental  mention  of  characteristic  gestures  and 
expressions  which  accompany  the  action. 

EXTERNAL   NATURE 

The  treatment  of  external  nature  in  Kleist's  novels  is  surprisingly 
meager.  His  letters  show  a  deep  feeling  for  landscape  and  an  apprecia- 
tion of  her  various  moods  ;^  in  his  dramas  he  draws  upon  nature  for  his 

^  other  examples  of  this  focusing  of  his  persons  are  to  be  found  in  tlie  adequate  epithets 
bestowed  upon  the  characters  in  "Anna"  (VIII,  231  ff.),  while  the  description  of  the  fire  in  the 
same  story  (VIII,  235  ff.)  is  given  in  connection  with  the  actions  of  the  people,  fleeing,  saving, 
mourning,  a  description  that  places  this  passage  side  by  side  with  the  similar  one  in  Kleist's 
Erdbeben  (IV,  3  &.). 

2Cf.  Feierfeil,  1.  c,  15. 

3Cf.  Letters  written  during  the  Wiirzburg  and  Paris  journeys,  Biedermann,  Briefe  an 
Braut,  Breslau,  1884. 


48  KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL 


Ai 


\tc 


figures  with  telling  effect/  while  the  background  receives  full  attention. 
/  Not  so  in  his  novels.  Here  the  .concentration  upon  the  action  seems 
to  prohibit  any  dwelling_^upon^  the ,  setting.  As  Minde-Pouet^  has 
pointed  out,  Kleist  confines  himself  almost  exclusively  to  casually  and 
tersely  mentioning  the  time  of  day  and  the  state  of  the  weather:  "In 
der  Finsterniss  einer  sturmischen  und  regnigten  Nacht,"  "in  der 
Einsamkeit  eines  finsteren  Waldes,"  etc.,  etc.  It  is,  however, 
significant  that  this  setting,  though  treated  with  seemingly  scant 
attention,  is,  nevertheless,  extremely  appropriate  as  a  background  to 
the  characters,  and  not  infrequently,  indeed,  is  used  directly  to  furnish 
an  additional  incentive  for  action.  Thus  Kohlhaas  has  his  disagreeable 
interview  with  the  young  lord  on  a  raw  and  stormy  night,  and  the 
descending  rain  cuts  short  the  wronged  man's  arguments  and  drives  the 
young  nobleman  into  the  house,  leaving  Kohlhaas  to  the  mercy  of  the 
bailiff  (IV,  62).  When  the  castle  of  Tronkenberg  is  burnt  and 
Kohlhaas  proceeds  on  his  destructive  way,  he  does  so  "unter  dem 
Gemurmel  eines  entfernten  Gewitters  am  Horizont,"  and  the  burning 
of  the  cloister  is  prevented  because  at  the  moment  of  giving  command 
he  is  startled  by  an  outburst  of  the  storm:  "Ein  plotzlich  furchtbarer 
Eegenguss,  der  die  Fackeln  verloschend  auf  das  Pflaster  des  Platzes 
niederrauschte,  loste  den  Schmerz  in  seiner  ungliicklichen  Brust" 
(IV,  88). 

In  like  manner  in  "Die  Verlobung"  the  darkness  of  a  stormy  and 
rainy  night  is  a  fitting  background  for  the  passionate  scenes.  At  the 
same  time  it  motives  Gustav's  venture  into  the  precarious  haven  of 
Babekan's  home  and  augments  the  distress  of  the  fugitives  who  lie  con- 
cealed "zuniichst  dem  Mowenweiher,  in  der  Wildniss  der  angrenzenden 
Gebirgswaldung. " 

pnlj^  in  *'Erdbeben"  does  nature  receive  a  fuller  treatment.  Here, 
where  the  lyric  raHlier  than  the  dramatic  noie  is  struck,  nature  isgiven 
fuller  scope.  A  gentle  western  breeze  awakens  hope  in  Jeronimo's 
breast,  the  solitary  pine  offers  a  refuge  to  the  mourning  lovers,  and 
the  pomegranate  tree  with  its  gracious  foliage  shelters  them  when  they 
are  happily  reunited.  The  beauties  of  the  tropical  night  are  described 
at  greater  length  than  is  usual  with  Kleist  (IV,  6).     In  "Cacilie" 

*  For  the  treatment  of  background  in  "Penthesilea"  cf.  Niejahr,  Kleist's  Penthesilea,  V.  f. 
L.  VI,  521. 

'  Sprache  und  Stil  82.  In  addition  we  may  note  that  Kleist  has  a  poetical  way  of  telling 
the  time  of  day  by  mentioning  the  position  of  the  heavenly  bodies:  "  Er  erinnerte  sie,  dass  die 
Morgensterne  funkelten"  (Verlobung);  "  Der  Mond  erblasste  schon  wieder  vor  der  MorgenrOthe, 
ehe  sie  einschliefen"  (Erdbeben),  etc. 


turH   / 
t  we  j    ' 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  49 

occurs  a  bit  of  nature  symbolism,  when  the  mother  of  the  unhappy- 
youths  sees  the  dome  of  the  church  shining  against  a  background  of 
stormclouds  which  send  only  vain  and  powerless  bolts  of  lightning 
against  it  (IV,  202). 

Twice  at  least  Kleist  passed  by  a  fine  opportunity  for  the  *'Natur 
schwarmerei"  that  wa^he  delight  of  the  Romantic  School,  and  that 
find  so  extensively  used  in  *'Wertlier.^^  When  the  Marquise  von  0. 
retreats  to  her  lonely  estate  in  the  country  after  being  cast  out  by  her 
parents,  she  seeks  refuge  within  herself,  and  for  her  beautiful  country 
home  has  only  practical  attention.  '*Sie  beschloss,  sich  ganz  in  ihr 
Innerstes  zuriickzuziehen,  sich  mit  ausschliessendem  Eifer  der  Erziehung 
ihrer  beiden  Kinder  zu  widmen.  ..."  "Sie  machte  Anstalten  .  .  • 
ihren  schonenaber  .  .  .  einwenigverfallenenLandsitz  wiederherzustel- 
len."^  Again,  we  find  Kohlhaas  in  a  situation  somewhat  similar  to 
that  of  Karl  Moor  in  Schiller's  "Rauber."  An  outlaw  from  society, 
he  broods  '*in  der  Einsamkeit  eines  finsteren  Waldes."  But  beyond 
the  mere  mention  of  this  fact  we  hear  nothing — no  description  of  the 
gloom  and  the  loneliness,  and  no  hint  of  the  effects  of  these  most 
appropriate  surroundings  on  the  mind  of  the  solitary  man.^ 

In  1851  Hebbel  wrote:  '*Man  sieht  die  Natur  eigentlich  nur  so  lange 
als  man  den  Menschen  noch  nicht  sieht ;  er  drangt  sie  augenblicklich 
in  den  Hintergrund,  sobald  er  hervortritt."  Thus  in  theory  he  agreed 
with  what  we  have  observed  in  Kleist's  practice,  at  least  in  the  novels. 
Turning  now  to  Hebbel's  own  tales,  we  find  that  his  practice  cor- 
responds to  his  theory.  He,  also,  informs  us  briefly  of  the  season  of 
year  and  the  time  of  day  that  are  the  appropriate  setting  for  the 
events  of  his  stories.  When  Assad  first  enters  Bagdad,  we  learn: 
**Es  war  an  einem  schonen  hellen  Nachmittag,  ..."  The  second 
part  of  the  story  begins:  "Ein  Jahr  war  verflossen.  Es  war  ein 
schoner  Morgen."  The  background  of  the  story  "Die  beiden  Vaga- 
bunden"  is  definite:  "Ziemlich  spat  an  einem  rauhen  Herbstabend 
trafen  zwei  junge  Leute  in  einem  Dorfe  ein."  Haidvogel  enters 
his  poverty-stricken  home  " — an  einem  Winterabend."  When  the 
gypsy  enters  Zitterlein's  house  she  finds  a  readier  welcome  because 
of  the  season.  "Es  war  ein  kalter,  stlirmischer  Abend;  es  schneite 
heftig."  The  story  "Anna"  opens  "an  einem  hellen  Sonntagmorgen," 
but  when  Friedrich  leaves  her  in  a  rage,  the  day  has  passed  and  the 

1  The  difference  between  this  realistic  treatment  of  solitude  and  Tieck's  handling  of  a  similar 
theme  in  the  "Waldeinsamkeit"  of  "Der  blonde  Ekbert,"  is  striking. 

«  Note  how  in  the  climax  of  Schiller's  "Rauber,"  the  hero  is  mostldeeply  affected  by  the 
sight  of  the  sunset. 


50  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

face  of  nature  has  changed.  **.  .  .  wahrend  er  in  die  sehr  unfreundlich 
gewordene  Nacht  hinausschritt."  **Schnock"  begins  with  a  very 
definite  statement:  "in  den  Hundstagen  des  Jahres  1836." 

Examples  of  appropriate  setting  are  to  be  found  in  *' Rubin,"  when 
Assad  in  his  despair  flees  the  bustling  town,  once  his  delight,  and 
seeks  the  balm  of  solitude  upon  the  river  banks  (VIII,  77).  The 
princess  appears  to  him  at  midnight,  the  horrors  and  loneliness  of  which 
are  forgotten  until  the  charm  of  her  presence  is  removed.  Then  all  the 
gloom  natural  to  night  returns:  '*.  .  .  wie  ein  wirkliches  Wesen 
drangte  sich  die  kalte,  laut-  und  lichtlose  Nacht  an  seine  Brust."^  In 
** Pauls  merkwiirdigste  Nacht,"  the  description  of  the  lonely  road  in 
the  moonlight  helps  to  elucidate  the  character  of  Paul,  for  he  sees  only 
those  features  of  the  scene  before  him  which  his  dread  forces  to  his 
notice,  and  the  emotions  aroused  in  him  by  the  scene  are  only  those 
engendered  by  his  fear.  Nature  herself  has  no  influence  on  him.  The 
fitful  moonlight  shining  on  the  headstones  of  the  cemetery,  the  awful 
silence,  the  hoarse  caw  of  the  crow,  produce  only  terror. 

The  use  of  natural  conditions  as  an  incentive  to  further  the  action, 
which  we  observed  in  Kleist,  is  found  in  "Eine  Nacht  im  Jagerhause," 
where  the  rainy  night  is  used  to  enhance  the  feeling  of  discomfort  and 
loneliness,  while  the  contrast  of  the  bright  hopes  entertained  by  the 
young  students  at  the  outset  of  their  journey  is  deepened  by  the  recol- 
lection of  the  sunshine  and  the  breezes  which  had  so  fittingly  accom- 
panied them.  **Adolf,  an  eine  solche  Nacht  dachten  wir  nicht,  als  wir 
heute  morgen  ausgingen,  um  uns  einen  vergniigten  Tag  zu  machen. 
Die  Sonne  schien  so  hell  und  freundlich,  ein  frischer  Wind  spielte  mit 
unseren  Locken  und  wir  sprachen  von  dem,  was  wir  nach  drei  Jahren 
thun  wollten."  Here  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  is  used  as  a 
deeper  motivation  The  students  would  not  have  entered  the  unfriendly 
dwelling  but  for  the  gathering  storm. 

In  **Zitterlein"  the  snowstorm  drives  in  the  gypsy,  whose  prophesy 
considerably  accelerates  the  action.  Zitterlein's  fiercest  fight  with 
himself  occurs  in  the  fury  of  a  March  storm.  When  the  storm  is  over 
he  yields  to  the  tranquilizing  influences  of  nature  and  returns  home. 

*  In  Kleist's  "Verlobung"  we  found  the  same  use  made  of  night.  Its  gloom  is  insisted  upon 
and  Babekan  employs  it  as  the  symbol  of  the  most  unfriendly  power :  "Ihr  seid  gewiss  ein 
Weisser,  dass  ihr  dieser  stockfinstern  Nacht  lieber  ins  Antlitz  schaut,  als  einer  Negerin."  This 
idea  of  night  as  the  natural  enemy  of  man,  as  the  symbol  of  fear,  danger,  and  gloom — an  idea 
carried  out  in  "Zitterlein,"  in  "Vagabunden,"  and  above  all  in  "Holion," — is  very  different  from 
the  romantic  delight  in  its  mysteries  and  peace,  as  we  find  it  expressed  by  Novalis  in  his  "Hym- 
nen  der  Nacht"  or,  later,  by  ,Lenau  (cf.  Klenze,  Treatment  of  Nature  in  Works  of  Lenau, 
p.  74  ff.). 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  61 

"Alles  um  ihn  her  war  stille,  nur  rauschten  iiber  seinem  Hanpte  die 
Baume.  Der  Mond  schien  hell.  Zitterlein  schaute  sich  um,  ob  er  nicht 
den  Fusssteig,  der  zu  seinem  Dorf  zuriickfiihrte,  auffinden  konne  und 
als  er  ihn  gefunden,  verfolgte  er  ihn  eilig."  When,  worn  by  his  year 
of  lonely  wandering,  he  experiences  a  melancholy  repose  under  the 
influence  of  music  and  falling  night,  nature  again  seems  to  enter  into 
his  mood.  ".  .  .  es  war  ihm,  als  rief  der  kiihle  Nachtwind,  der  seine 
gliihende  Wange  streifte,  ihm  zu:  'Es  waltet  ja  doch  ein  Gott,  der  die 
armen  Menschen  und  auch  Dich  lieb  hat  und  ihre  Wunden  gerne 
heilte,'  ..." 

These  examples  show  that  while  Hebbel  was  more  verbose  than 
Kleist  in  his  nature  descriptions,  evidently  delighting  in  the  pictures 
for  their  own  sake,  he  yet  made  a  decided  effort  to  sabserviate  them  to 
the  action  of  the  stories.^  We  look  in  vain  for  such  full  and  often 
effective  treatment  of  landscape  as  we  find  in  the  stories  of  Hoffmann, 
in  whose  "Majorat,"  for  instance,  the  opening  descriptions  of  the  bleak 
landscape  and  the  dramatic  introduction  of  the  storm  during  the  ghost- 
scenes  produce  an  effect  at  once  weird  and  fascinating,  or  of  Eichen- 
dorff,  whose  novels  owe  much  of  their  charm  to  the  delightful  descrii 
tions  of  forests  and  meadows,  sunrises  and  moonlit  nischts.     Neither  is 


there  any  indication  of  that  ig^^stic  interrelation  between  man  and  nature 
in  which  Tieck's  stories  abound. 

FIGURES   OF    SPEECH 

The  compactness  of  form  which  restricted  the  descriptions  an^ 
minimized  the  use  of  landscape  as  a  background  in  the  stories  is 
further  apparent  in  the  restrained  use  of  figurative  language.  Pro- 
tracted tropes  are  rare.  Merely  ornamental  figures  are  scarcely  toHDe 
found.  Those  that  are  used  serve  to  elucidate  the  action  and  are  struck 
off  at  a  blow. 

The  most  telling  of  Kleist 's  figures  are  selected  from  the  realm  of 
external  nature  and  are  used  to  give  vividness  to  the  action  or  to 
elucidate  the  actor's  mental  attitude,  never  for  purposes  of  mere 
ornament.  *'Zweikampf":  *'Jetzt  wogte  zwischen  beiden  Kampfern 
der  Streit,  wie  zwei  Sturmwinde  einander  begegnen,  wie  zwei  Gewit- 
terwolken,  ihre  Blitze  einander  zusendend,  sich  treffen,  und  ohne  sich 

>  Most  interesting  is  the  contrast  in  this  respect  between  the  novels  written  under  Kleist's 
influence  and  his  earlier  work,  "Holion,"  where  the  influence  of  Jean  Paul  and  Hoffmann  is 
strongly  felt,  and  where  storm,  clouds,  darkness,  and  convulsions  of  nature  are  fulsomely  de- 
scribed to  produce  a  general  atmosphere  of  horror  and  gloom. 


52  KLEIST  AND   HEBBEL 

zu  vermischen,  unter  dem  Gekrach  hiiufiger  Donner  gethiirmfc  um 
einander  herumschweben."^  "Die  Gedanken,  die  ihn  beunrubigten, 
wichen  wie  ein  Heer  schauerlicber  Vogel  von  ibm,"  *'Verlobung."^ 
A  few  bold  and  happy  instances  of  personification  are  found.  "Cacilie" : 
The  storm  sinks  "missvergntigt  murmelnd."  "Erdbeben":  "In- 
dessen  der  Tod  von  alien  Seiten  Angriffe  auf  ihn  machte,  .  .  .  hier 
stiirzte  ein  Haus, — und  jagte  ihn  in  eine  Nebenstrasse ;  hier  leckte  die 
Flamme  schon,  in  Dampfwolken  blitzend,  aus  alien  Giebeln,  und  trieb 
ihn  ...  in  eine  andere;  hier  walzte  sich  aus  seinem  Gestade  gehoben, 
der  Mapochofluss  auf  ihn  heran  und  riss  ihn  briillend  in  eine  dritte." 

A  certain  vividness  and  picturesqueness  of  style  is  produced  by  such 
figurative  terms  as  "Wirbel  der  Unruhe,"  "Flamme  der  Inbrunst," 
"den  Boden  mit  Brust  und  Scheitel  kiissend,"  "der  Friihling  deines 
Angesichts,"  "schon  wie  ein  junger  Gott,"  etc.,  etc.  But  there  is 
nothing  remarkable,  except  perhaps  their  brevity,  about  these  figures. 
In  all  there  are  but  sixty-one  tropes  to  be  found  in  the  eight  extant 
tales  of  Kleist.  Of  these  none  are  especially  prominent  in  their  position 
in  the  story  nor  very  conspicuous  for  beauty  or  originality.^ 

Hebbel's  tales  contain  eighty-eight  tropes.  Some  of  these  show  in 
their  length  and  rather  over-strained  content  the  influence  of  Jean  Paul 
rather  than  that  of  Kleist.  Such  are  the  long  comparison  between 
certain  characters  and  the  parasite  plant  (Zitterlein,  43),  which  Kleist 
would  have  struck  off  with  much  greater  brevity ;  the  description  of 
love  (Zitterlein,  52),  which  is  compared  first  to  a  tender  thread,  then 
to  a  raging  petard;  and  the  rather  mixed  metaphors  of  "Matteo" 
(VIII,  209). 

But  Hebbel's  figures  are  not  only  fewer  in  number  (comparatively 
speaking)  than  those  of  Jean  Paul  or  the  Romanticists,  they  resemble 
Kleist's  in  being  completely  subordinated  to  the  action;  they  are  used 
as  a  means  to  an  end — elucidation  of  character.  Thus  even  the  long- 
drawn-out  comparisons  in  "Matteo,"  mentioned  above,  serve  only  as 
an  explanation  of  the  mental  condition  of  the  hero,  not  as  a  vehicle 
for  abstract  philosophizing  on  life  on  the  part  of  the  author.  A  study 
of  this  figure  and  a  similar  one  of  Kleist's  will  serve  to  point  out  a 
fundamental  difference  between  our  two  authors  and  the  Romanticists. 


*  other  uses  of  lightning  and  storm  as  similes  of  contest  or  inner  conflict  are  to  be  found  in 
"Verlobung"  (p.  179),  "Findling"  (p.  210),  "Cacilie"  (p.  201),  "Kohlhaas",  (p.  118). 

'Other  figures  from  animal  and  plant  life  are  found  in  "Verlobung"  (p.  167),  "Cacilie" 
(p.  200),  "Zweikampf"  (p.  242),  "Erdbeben"  (p.  9).  Two  similes  from  water:  "Erdbeben" 
(pp.  4  and  12),  "Marquise"  (p.  46). 

»Cf.  BischofE's  review  of  Minde-Pouet,  Z.  f.  v.  L.,  XII,  284. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  53 

I  select  these  two  because  in  their  outward  form,  in  the  accumulation 
of  simile,  they  seem  rather  to  resemble  the  language  of  the  latter.  In 
Hebbers  "Matteo"  we  read:  "Der  unergriindliche  Widerspruch  des 
Lebens  packte  ihn  wie  mit  Krallen,  die  Welt  kam  ihm  wie  ein 
unsinniges  Kaleidoskop  vor,  das  in  buntem  Gemisch  kluge  und  dumme 
Figuren  ohne  Zweck  und  Kegel  darstellt,  und  die  menschliche 
Vernunft,  wie  der  Versuch  eines  Kindes,  auf  dem  Sturmwind,  der 
Alles  bewegt  und  durcheinander  schiittelt,  zu  reiten. — Ein  Mord  schien 
ihm  jetzt  ein  Nichts,  ihm  war,  als  miisste  er  sich  mit  einer  schweren 
That,  wie  mit  Ballast,  beladen,  damit  seine  Gedanken  nur  nicht  in's 
Grenzenlose,  in  die  unendliche  Leere,  hinein  wirbelten."  This  accumu- 
lation of  figures  we  find  in  the  later  and  less  excellent  of  Kleist's 
novels.  So  Littegarde  protests  her  innocence  (in  *'Zweikampf"):  '*Wie 
die  Brust  eines  neugebornen  Kindes,  wie  das  Gewissen  eines  aus  der 
Beichte  kommenden  Menschen,  wie  die  Leiche  einer  aus  der  Sakristei 
unter  der  Einkleidung  verschiedenen  Nonne!"  We  notice  that  in 
both  cases  the  piling  up  of  simile  was  used  only  as  a  means  to  vivify 
and  elucidate  a  concrete  idea.  The  reader  is  to  be  impressed  with 
the  mental  confusion  of  Matteo  and  with  the  innocence  of  Littegarde. 
The  Eomanticists,  on  the  other  hand,  strove  for  expansion  of  idea. 
A  concrete  fact  was  only  the  starting-point  from  which  the  mind 
soared  to  a  conception  of  the  mhnlt^.  ror  instance,  m  tlie  opening 
paragraph  oi  .^w^^^g  ''Lehrlinge  zu  Sais"  the  author,  starting  from 
the  concrete  ioe^that  the  ways  of  men  are  manifold,  expands 
the  thought  "zu  jener  grossen  Zifferschrift  ...  die  man  liberall, 
auf  Fliigeln,  Eierschalen,  in  Wolken,  im  Schnee,  in  Krystallen  und 
in  Sterngebildungen,  auf  gefrierenden  Wassern,  im  Inneren  und 
Ausseren  der  Gebirge,  der  Pflanzen,  der  Thiere,  der  Menschen,  in  den 
Lichtern  des  Himmels,  auf  beriihrten  und  gestrichenen  Scheiben  von 
Pech  und  Glas,  in  den  Eeilspanen  um  den  Magnet  her,  und  besonderen 
Conjunkturen  des  Zufalls  erblickt."  Instances  of  this  kind  are 
numerous.^  The  Romantic  theory  of  the  object  and  mission  of  the 
novel  explains  this  phenomenon.  Arnim  holds  that  that  which  interests 
us  in  a  story  is  not  man's  wondrous  journey  from  cradle  to  grave,  but 
"die  ewige  Begebenheit  in  allem,  wodurch  jede  Begebenheit  zu  unserer 
eigenen  wird,  .  .  .  ein  ewiges  Zeugnis,  dass  alles  Leben  aus  einem 
erstand  und  zu  einem  wiederkehrt.  "^     Wilhelm  Schlegel  indignantly 

»The  same  tendency  is  observed  in  the  Romantic  treatment  of  nature.     Cjf.  Bi_^§eju.l«  c»» 
445  ft.  — ' 

2Cf.  Huch,  BliJthezeit,  303  ff. 


«k. 


64  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

disclaims  that  *'Wilhelm  Meister"  is  a  novel  **wo  Personen  und 
Be^ebenheiten  der  letzte  Endzweck  sind."^  For  Kleist  and  Hebbel, 
as  we  have  seen,  persons — and  events  which  characterize  these  persons — 
are  precisely  this  last  end  and  purpose.  Hence  for  them,  figures  of 
speech  were  illustrations  of  the  action  merely.  "Fnr  i]i^  "^.niiLa.u.f,io.isl.s. 
the  action  was  a  subordinate  factor  in  the  elucirlfttiimi  nf  th.^.t  mystic 
* ^..Wfil^nschauuno- ' '  for  which  they-  coulcl  ^"^^  TnOTP  «^^^^^^^^  axpies- 
sion  in  symbolic  figures. 

DIALOGUE 

r— — "fft  Kleist's  use  of  the  dialogue  the    dramatic    note   is  the  most 

I  prominent  feature.     The  vehement   naturalness  of    the  language    as 

contrasted  with  the  smoother  but  more  stilted  periods  of  the  classicists, 

the  sentences  broken  short  by  the  excited  interruptions  of  the  listener, 

the  quick  parrying  of  words  and  phrases,  all  these  are  well-known 

Vijiejguliarities  of  Kleist.     Minde-Pouet^  selected  many  instances  from  the 

dramas;  but  the  stories,  though  employing  indirect  speech  to  a  very 

great  extent,  show  striking  examples  of   dramatic   dialogue  as  well. 

*'Kohlhaas":  "Ich  .  .  .  f rage,  was  auch  giebts?  was  es  giebt?  antwortet 

der   Schlossvogt; — Wo  will  er  hin   mit   den  Pferden?  .  .  .  Ich  sage, 

wo  ich  hin  will?     Himmeldonner!    zur    Schwemme  will    ich    reiten. 

Denkt  er,  dass  ich — Zur  Schwemme?  ruft  der  Schlossvogt.     Ich  will 

*v^  dich,  Gauner,  auf  der  Heerstrasse  nach  Kohlhaasenbriick  schwimmen 

lehren."    "Marquise  von  0.":  "Der  Commandant,  .   .   .  sagte, — Herr 

Graf,  wenn  Sie  nicht  sehr  wichtige  Griinde   haben — Entscheidende! 

fiel  ihm  der  Graf  ins  Wort;  ...  In  diesem  Fall  werde  ich  wenigstens, 

fuhr  der  Commandant  fort,   die    Depeschen — Es    ist  nicht   moglich, 

!^      antwortete  der  Graf,  .  .  .  Die  Depeschen  gelten  nichts  in  Neapel  ohne 

\       mich.    .  .  .    Und  die  Briefe  ihres  Onkels?   rief  der  Adjutant,    .  .  . 

^       Treffen  mich,   erwiderte    der    Graf,  in    M.  .  .  .  Fahr  zu,   sagte  der 

Adjutant."     It  will  be  observed  that  this  short  conversation  shows 

every  one  of  the  traits  mentioned  above.* 

But    while    the   specimens  of   Kleist's  dialogue    here    given    are 
■  '         noticeable  for  their  vividness  and  ruggedness,  they  form  a  very  small 

»Wks.,  1846,  VIII,  103.  M.  c,  p.  27  ff. 

3  Examples  of  this  kind  may  be  multiplied.  So  in  "Marquise  von  O."  IV,  42,  48,  61,  66; 
"Verlobung"  IV,  187;  "Zweikampf,"  IV,  242.  A  typical  instance  of  this  style  of  lively  dia- 
logue is  the  incomparable  little  anecdote  entitled  "Anekdote  aus  dem  letzten  preussischen 
Kriege":  "Da!  sag'  'ich,  und  schenk'  ihm  ein,  da  trink'  erund  reit'  erl  Wohl  mag's  ihm  be- 
kommen:  'Noch  Eins!'  spricht  der  Kerl;  wahrend  die  Schiisse  schon  von  alien  Seiten  ins  Dorf 
prasseln.  Ich  sage:  noch  Eins?  Plagt  ihn — 7  'Noch  EinsI'  spricht  er,  indem  er  sich  den 
Bart  wischt,  und  sich  vom  Pferde  herab  schneuzt,  u.  s.  w." 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  66 

portion  of  the  entire  bulk  of  his  novels.  In  spite  of  the  strong  dramatic  y 
note  that  we  have  observed  in  Kleist's  entire  method,  he  did  not  seek  | 
to  break  down  the  barriers  that  separate  the  epic  from  the  dramatic  / 
forms  of  art/  The  predominance  of  indirect  speech  tends  to  preserve  / 
the  epic  flow  of  narrative.  Only  when  the  action  becomes  exciting  do  / 
the  people  break  into  direct  speech.''  In  this  extensive  use  of  indirect 
discourse  Kleist  has  gone  back  to  the  technique  of  the  earlier  eighteenth 
century,  before  the  Storm  and  Stress  in  its  efforts  to  intensify  and 
vivify  the  literary  forms  had  made  of  fJialngnA  «.  p^^^U.  ihnt  threatened  y 
often  to  overflow  its  legitimate  limits.'  In  Hebbel's  novels  we  fina 
very  little  indirect  speech.  The  dramatic  dialogue  had  more  attraction 
for  him.  The  relative  amount  of  dialogue  is  greater  than  with  Kleist. 
In  "Die  Obermedizinalrathin"  the  entire  story  is  written  as  a  dialogue, 
so  that  the  interspersed  descriptions  are  not  much  more  than  stage 
directions  (VIII,  62  tf.).  As  we  observed  in  the  concentration  of  the 
material,  Hebbel  did  not  guard  the  limits  of  epic  style  so  well  as  Kleist 
and  tended  to  exaggerate  the  peculiarities  of  his  model.  Neverthe- 
less, the  dialogue  of  the  two  writers  shows  many  points  in  common. 
The  liveliness  and  naturalness  of  the  conversation  between  the 
characters  is  observable  on  almost  every  page.  The  following  examples 
illustrate  this  point.  *'Anna":  "  *Ich  muss  doch  sehen,  .  .  .  sie 
fliistern  allerlei!'  *Du  siehst!'  erwiderte  Anna  schnell,  .  .  .  'Dein 
Herr  ist  ein  Hundsfott!'  brauste  Friedrich  auf  und  knirschte  mit  den 
Zahnen.  *Ja,  ja!'  sagte  Anna.  *Ich  mocht'  ihm  begegnen,  driiben  am 
Abhang' — rief  Friedrich — *o  es  ist  entsetzlich!'  *Wie  heiss  hist  Du!' 
sagte  Anna,  indem  sie  sanft  seine  Hand  fasste, — 'hast  Du  schon 
getanzt?'  *Wein  hab  ich  getrunken,  ftinf,  sechs  Glaser,'  versetzte 
Friedrich,  'komm,  Anna,  Du  sollst  mit,  jedem  Teufel  zum  Trotz,  der 
sich  dreinlegen  will.'  *Nein,  nein,  nein!'  sagte  Anna.  *Ja  doch,'  fuhr 
Friedrich  auf,  und  legte  den  Arm  um  ihren  Leib,  'Doch I'  'Ganz 
gewiss    nicht!'    erwiderte  Anna  leise,  ihn  innig  umschlingend.      'Du 

^Cf.  Brahm,  1.  c,  151. 

« It  is  most  interesting  to  compare  with  this  use  of  the  indirect  and  direct  speech  together, 
that  of  Goethe  in  the  "Unterhaltungen."  Here  the  theoretical  conversations  are  given  in  the 
direct  speech,  while  the  very  passages  which  with  Kleist  and  Hebbel  would  have  been  made 
dramatic  by  rapid  questions,  answers,  exclamations,  when  the  clash  of  opinions  or  emotions 
seemed  to  need  such  treatment,  are  rendered  by  Goethe  in  the  dispassionate  tone  of  the  narrator. 
Thus  when  the  lover  first  becomes  aware  of  the  great  gulf  between  himself  and  his  beloved 
(Weimar  ed.,  XVIII,  219),  we  read:  "AUein  wie  verwundert  war  er,  ja  wie  besttirzt,  als  sie  die 
ganze  Sache  sehr  leichtsinnig,  ja  man  durfte  beinahe  sagen  hamisch  aufnahm.  Sie  scherzte 
nicht  ganz  fein,  etc."  By  this  form  of  narration  we  remain  in  the  attitude  of  the  calm  onlooker, 
while  Kleist  and  Hebbel  draw  us  into  passionate  participation. 

3Cf.  Riemann,  I.  c,  286  ff. 


56  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

sollst,  ich  will's,'  rief  Friedrich  nnd  liess  sie  los.  .  .  .  'Willst  Du  oder 
nicht?'  drangte  Friedrich  und  trat  dicht  vor  sie  hin.  'Wie  konnt' 
ich?'  entgegnete  Anna, — 'Gut,  gut,'  rief  Friedrich,  'Du  willst  nicht? 
Gott  verdamme  mich,  wo  ich  dich  wiederseh'!'  Wie  rasend  stiirzte 
erfort."^ 

Like  Kleist,  Hebbel  breaks  up  the  smoothness  of  dialogue  by  means 
of  repetitions  and  interruptions  that  come  from  the  excitement  of  the 
listener,  who  is  unable,  to  await  the  completion  of  the  speech.^  "Haid- 
vogel" :  "  'Er  ist — ?'  fragte  die  Frau,  'Todt,'  versetzte  Herr  Haidvogel. 
'Was  wird  aus  den  armen  Kindern  werden,  wenn — '  'Was  wird  aus 
ihnen' — unterbrach  sie  Herr  Haidvogel  mit  Unwillen,  'wenn  sie  einmal 
eine  Erbschaft  machten,  und  ihr  Vater  ware  weniger  eifrig — ' 
'Hatten  wir  das  Gegentheil  gewusst — '  'So  hattet  Ihr  meinen  The- 
odor  zuweilen  in  den  Garten  gelassen, — '"  "Schnock":  " 'Kommt 
er,  so  soil  ihn — '  'Da  ist  er  schon,'  kreischte  sie."  Those  examples 
bear  the  closest  resemblance  to  Kleist,  in  which  a  word  is  seized  by  the 
listener,  caught  up  and  tossed  back.  "Haidvogel":  "  'Sie  wissen,  dass 
ich  nichts  that,  als  was  der  Herr  mir  befahl,  dessen  Brot  ich  ass!' 
'Ass?'  fragte  Herr  Haidvogel  gespannt.  'Ja,  der  gniidige  Herr  ist 
am  Schlag — '  'Am  Schlag?'  unterbrach  ihn  Herr  Haidvogel — ,  — 
'das  ist  ja  eine  niedertrachtige  Lage, — '  'Heute  Nachmittag,  ja,' 
versetzte  Johann,  'aber  jetzt  nicht  mehr!  Leider!'  —  'Leider?'  rief 
Herr  Haidvogel  —  'Gott  Lob!'  —  'Freilich,  Gott  Lob!'  entgegnete 
Johann  geschmeidig.  *  Wahrscheinlich, '  entgegnete  Johann  zogernd, 
'von  dem  Aerger,  den — '  ' — Den  ich  4hm  machte,'  sagte  Herr 
Haidvogel.  'Nun,  Frau,  kann  ich — '  'Nichts  kannst  Du,' versetzte 
die  Frau."  This  terse,  pointed  dialogue,  rich  in  allusion,  producing 
certain  effects  by  means  of  repetition  and  broken  sounds,  is  much  more 
akin  to  the  technique  of  Maeterlinck  than  to  the  contemporary  writers 
of  Kleist  and  Hebbel. 

But  the  point  in  which  the  dialogues  of  Kleist  and  Hebbel  unite  in 
starting  a  literary  innovation  is  their  absolute  "Sachlichkeit,"  their 
complete  subjugation  to  the  action.  The  dialogue  had  only  gradually 
made  its  way  into  literature.  Hirzel,^  in  his  epoch-making  biography 
of  this  form  of  expression,  shows  how  it  arose  from  philosophical 
dialectics  and  only  very  gradually  made  its  way  into  belles-lettres,  and 
here,  also,  merely  as  a  means  for  the  expression  of  contending  opinions. 

*  other  characteristic  examples  are  found  in  "Eine  Nacht  im  Jagerhause"  (VIII,  267-8), 
♦•Haidvogel"  (VIII,  217,  218,  225,  226,  227). 

''Friess  (Fragraente,  25)  attributes  this  peculiarity  to^Lessing's  influence. 
8  Der  Dialog. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  57 

This  was   the  case  among   the  ancients^  as  well  as  in  the  novels  of 
Wieland,  Heinse,  Goethe.^ 

Hirzel  places  the  gradual  decline  of  the  dialogue  as  a  vehicle  of 
scientific  demonstration  at  the  beginning  of  our  literary  era.^  In 
speaking  of  Goethe's  "Unterhaltungen,"  he  laments  that  "der  Dialog 
sich  wieder  einmal  zum  Vehikel  von  Erzahlungen  hergeben  muss."* 
This  "degradation"  of  the  dialogue  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new 
movement  in  novelistic  art.  And  it  is  here  that  Kleist  and  Hebbel 
took  the  first  bold  step.  The  current  was  flowing  steadily  in  the  direc- 
tion  of  the  dramatization  of  the  novel.  T^nt  Klpiah  -^aa  f.^ft  first  tfl  fiaafc 
out  all  conversation  that  did  not  bear  directly  on  the  action  of  the  story. 
TEe  "novels  of  (Joethe,  as  well  as  those  ofthe  liomanti  cists  and  later 
of  the  Young  Germans,  still  abound  in  ^'^jn'^^^'^^^iiit  ^nnvftr^^'-^nni]  The 
lengthy  and  frequent  disquisitions  on  philosophy  of  life  which  permeate 
the  "Unterhaltungen"  and  almost  spoil  the  "Wanderjahre"  are 
found  in  Goethe's  "Novelle"  as  well.  Heinse's  "Ardinghello'^ 
"Hildegard,"  those  connecting  links  between  the  Classic  and  the 
Romantic  novel,  often  seem  to  dwindle  into  mere  disquisitions  on  music 
and  the  plastic  arts.  Of  Tieck's  novels  Haym^  says  with  justice :  "In 
jener  reflektierenden  Gesprachsweise,  die  spater  im  Phantasus  und  in 
den  Novellen  zur  langweiligen  Manier  wurde,  erblassen  die  Charaktere 
zu  blossen  Konversationsfiguren."**  Gutzkow's  "Wally"  contains  pages 
of  dialogue  whose  content  is  divorced  from  the  plot-interest.  Mundt's 
"Madonna"  is  mainly  a  collection  of  views  and  emotions  cast  sometimes 
into  the  form  of  letters,  sometimes  into  that  of  conversations,  like  the 
hero's  prolonged  exposition  of  the  mysteries  of  Christianity.'^  Not  a 
single  instance  of  this  kind  is  to  be  found  in  the  stories  of  Kleist 
and  Hebbel. 

DRAMATIC    PAUSE 

Tt^  lyinnift-nf s  of  extreme  emotion  or  of  a  sharp  conflict  of  passion, 
Kleist's  heroes  oftejo- do  not  speak  at  a^ll,  .,A  look,  an  expressive  gesture, 
at  most  a  half -involuntary  exclamation,  suggest  rather  than  express  the 
storm  surging  within.^     When,  at  the  moment  of  Kohlhaas's  deepest 

»1.  c,  II,  153  ff.  »1.  c,  II,  421  ff.,  430. 

3  1.  c,  II,  437ff.  *1.  c,  II,  425. 

^Haym,   Romant.  Schule,   131. 

•Even  Hoffmann  indulges  largely  in  this  tendency  (cf.  Wks.,  1842,  V,  pp.  159  ff.). 

7  Ed.  1835,  pp.  108-145. 

8  For  a  treatment  of  this  point  of  technique  as  it  appears  in  the  dramas  cf.  Minde-Pouet, 
Sprache  u.  Stil,  p.  40. 


58  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

sorrow,  during  the  funeral  of  his  wife,  a  letter  is  handed  to  him  in 
which  his  final  request  for  justice  is  refused  with  every  accompaniment 
of  indignity,  he  says  nothing:  **Kohlhaas  steckte  den  Brief  ein  und 
Hess  den  Sarg  auf  den  Wagen  bringen."  Later,  when  he  hears  that  his 
attack  on  the  Tronkenburg  was  made  in  vain,  that  the  Junker  has 
escaped  alive,  no  words  can  express  his  chagrin:  "Kohlhaas  seufzte  .  .  . 
tief  auf ;  er  fragte,  ob  die  Pferde  gefressen  hatten."  When  he  reads 
Luther's  proclamation,  the  condemnation  of  his  action  by  the  man 
whose  judgment  he  values  most  highly,  his  color  and  his  expression 
alone  give  a  glimpse  of  his  consternation  (IV,  97).  In  *'Die  Marquise 
von  0.,"  when  the  rage  of  the  colonel  has  reached  such  a  pitch  that  he 
is  incapable  of  articulate  speech  and  threatens  his  daughter's  life,  the 
latter  is  shocked  beyond  the  power  of  words.  "  *Herr,  meines  Lebens!* 
rief  die  Marquise,  .  .  .  und  eilte  hinweg."  In  action  alone  does  she 
express  her  self-assertion  and  energy.  Later,  when  her  father  has 
become  convinced  of  her  innocence  and  his  cruel  injustice,  he  can 
express  his  regret  only  with  tears  and  caresses  (IV,  52  ff.).*  In  ''Die 
Verlobung"  Gustav,  when  he  hears  that  the  girl  whom  he  has  killed 
was  not  only  innocent  of  the  crime  of  which  he  had  suspected  her  but 
had  even  risked  her  life  for  him,  is  struck  speechless  with  horror.  **  '0 !' 
rief  er,  ohne  aufzusehen,  und  meinte,  die  Erde  versilake  unter  seinen 
Fiissen"  (p.  188).  The  agony  of  the  father  over  the  dead  body  of  his 
child  could  not  be  rendered  better  than  by  the  silence  of  Don  Fernando 
in  "Erdbeben":  *'.  .  .  als  er  seinen  kleinen  Jungen  vor  sich  liegen 
sah,  .  .  .  hob  er  voll  namenlosen  Schmerzes  seine  Augen  gen  Himmel" 
(p.  15).  In  the  same  manner  his  wife,  from  whom  he  had  concealed 
the  sad  truth,  expresses  her  feelings  of  sorrow  for  the  child  and 
sympathy  for  her  husband  in  a  symbolic  action:  ".  .  .  weinte  diese 
treffliche  Dame  im  Stillen  ihren  Schmerz  aus,  und  fiel  ihm  mit  dem 
Rest  einer  glanzenden  Thrane  eines  Morgans  um  den  Hals  und  klisste 
ihn"  (p.  16). 

Examining  Hebbel's  stories,  we  find  this  device  constantly  employed. 
**Zitterlein":  When  Agathe  refuses  her  father's  request  to  vow  never 
to  marry,  thus  confirming  his  morbid  suspicion  and  shattering  his 
hopes,  he  says  nothing  but  "Schlaf  wohl,  mein  Kind,"  and  hastily 
leaves  the  room.  And  we  read  of  her:  *'Sie  faltete  die  Hande  und 
betete."  When  the  gypsy's  prophecy  has  changed  Zitterlein's  worst 
suspicions  into  certainty,  he  silently  returns  to  his  room.     **Er  setzte 

» For  Kleist's  indebtedness  to  Rousseau's  "H61oise"  cf,  E.  Schmidt,  Richardson,  Rousseau 
u.  Goethe,  p.  329  ff. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  59 

sich  auf  einen  Stuhl  und  stiitzte  den  Kopf  auf  den  Tisch,  'Also  auch 
verloren!'  rief  er  mit  einem  grasslichen  Liicheln  vor  sich  hin.  Auf 
dem  Tisch  lag  sein  Messerbesteck ;  er  zog  ein  Messer  heraus,  es  funkelte 
scliarf  und  blank  ini  Strahl  der  flackernden  Lampe.  Er  stand  auf  und 
blickte  nach  der  Alkoventhiir  (wo  seine  Tochter  schlief),  er  that  einen 
Schritt  vorwarts,  aber  da  warf  er  das  Messer  schaudernd  zu  Boden  und 
schlug  sich  mit  der  geballten  Faust  ins  Gesicht."  Here  we  have  an 
entire  scene  of  the  most  intense  dramatic  action,  in  which  not  one 
word  is  spoken,  in  which  the  author  does  not  step  in  to  tell  us  what  is 
going  on  in  the  mind  of  the  hero,  and  in  which,  nevertheless,  we  are  not 
only  fully  aware  of  every  phase  of  the  mental  conflict,  but  are  made  to 
breathe  the  very  atmosphere  he  breathes.  The  lonely  room,  the  dismal 
ray  of  the  flickering  lamp,  the  temptation  of  the  gleaming  knife  are 
brought  before  us  with  startling  vividness.  At  the  climax  of  "Zitter- 
lein,"  father  and  lover  are  so  choked  with  passion  that  only  the 
briefest  phrases  escape  them.  We  seem  to  hear  the  quick,  gasping 
breath  that  cuts  short  the  words  (VIII,  53). 

All  afternoon  Anna  sat  working  passionately,  breaking  her  silence 
only  once,  to  laugli  scornfully  at  herself.  When  her  lover  urges  her  to 
defy  her  master's  authority  and  go  with  him  to  the  ball,  "Anna  ergriff 
ohne  etwas  zu  antworten,  die  Hechel  und  sah  vor  sich  nieder."  The 
violent  struggle  between  duty  and  desire  is  described  no  further. 
When  the  catastrophe  comes,  Anna's  despair  is  expressed  only  in  action. 
"Anna,  mit  der  Tollkiihnheit  der  Verzweiflung,  weinend,  schreiend, 
sich  die  Brust  zerschlagend,  dann  wieder  lachend,  stiirzte  sich  in  jede 
Gefahr,  rettete,  loschte,  und  war  alien  zugleich  Gegenstand  des 
Erstaunens,  der  Bewunderung  und  unheimliches  Ratsel." 

"Die  Kuh":  When  Andreas  returned  and  found  that  the  child 
had  burnt  up  the  treasure  which  to  him  represented  all  his  dreams 
of  happiness,  he  stood  still,  "mit  weit  aufgerissenem  Munde  und 
fast  aus  den  Hohlen  tretenden  Augen, — "  To  the  very  end  he 
gives  voice  to  but  four  brief  exclamations:  "Satan!"  "Mehr,  Du 
Teufelsbrut?"  "Mehr,  noch  mehr,  viel  mehr,"  and  "Gute  Nacht, 
Andreas !"    In  utter  silence  the  horrible  resolve  takes  shape. 

"Matteo":  When  Felicita  announces  her  marriage,  unconsciously 
destroying  the  bright  young  hopes  of  Matteo,  the  latter  receives  the 
news  in  dead  silence:  "Matteo  sagte  kein  Wort,  er  wandte  sich  um 
and  kehrte  langsam  in  sein  Haus  zuriick."  When  the  full  conscious- 
ness of  her  wrong  dawns  upon  the  young  wife,  she  indicates  her 
submission   by  an  expressive   gesture.     "...  rutschte  sie  auf  ihren 


60  .  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

Knieen  herbei,  nahm  den  Fuss  ihres  Mannes  und  setzte  sich  ihn  still- 
Bchweigend  auf  den  Nacken.  .  .  .  Der  Mann  liess  sie  gewahren  und 
sah  nur  auf  den  Knaben,   ..." 

"Der  Eubin" :  When  the  enchanted  princess  has  told  her  story, 
Assad  finds  no  words  to  express  his  passionate  longing  and  regret. 
**  'Ihr  Leib,  ihre  Seele,  0!'  seufzte  Assad  und  starrte  den  Edelstein  an, 
die  Lampe  erlosch,  wie  ein  wirkliches  Wesen  driingte  sich  die  kalte, 
laut-  und  lichtlose  Nacht  an  seine  Brust."^ 

FAVOBITE    MOTIFS 

Certain  favorite  motifs  of  Kleisfc's  we  find  recurring  in  Hebbel's  tales. 
Especially  characteristic  are : 

In  the  study  of  the  contents  of  Kleist's  tales  we  spoke  of  the 
'^_^1  tlfitfT'^'^^'^  ^"'^1  ^^  ^^e  characters.  This  will  comes  into 
so  much  at  the  call  of  carefully  confeWSl^ed  reason,  as  at  the  demand  of 
sudden,  often  violent  impulse.  The  indubitable  sign  of  this  impulse 
is  the  fact  that  neither  the  author  nor  the  hero  ever  finds  it  necessary 
to  elucidate  the  motive  of  the  action  by  anything  but  a  reference  to 
the  "Gefiihl"  of  the  hero.^  Thus  Kohlhaas  when  on  the  brink  of 
outlawry:  ".  .  .  und  mitten  durch  den  Schmerz,  die  Welt  in  einer  so 
ungeheuren  Unordnung  zu  erblicken,  zuckte  die  innere  Zufriedenheit 
hervor,  seine  eigene  Brust  nunmehr  in  Ordnung  zu  sehen."  The 
violent  action  of  the  Marquise  von  0.,  when  the  identity  of  her  ravisher 
is  established,  is  left  unexplained  except  at  the  close:  "er  wtirde  ihr 
damals  nicht  wie  ein  Teufel  erschienen  sein,  wenn  er  ihr  nicht  bei  seiner 
^ersten  Erscheinung  wie  ein  Engel  vorgekomme  ware."  jji  "TTr^Vx^b^y" 
the  lovers  follow  the  promptings  of  their  impulse  -^jt^j^nnt  f|,  b^"^  ^^ 

*  Many  of  these  examples  bear  a  very  close  resemblance  to  the  famous  passage  in  Kleist's 
"Schroffensteiner"  (I,  1),  in  which  Ottokar,  hearing  that  the  girl  whom  he  has  loved  is  the 
daughter  of  the  house  against  which  he  has  just  sworn  vengeance,  instead  of  breaking  into  a 
wild  tirade,  silently  leans  on  the  shoulder  of  his  brother.  Of  this  scene  Brahm  says  (p.  78): 
"So  die  Leidehschaft  in  ein  die  Empfindung  nur  andeutendes,  nicht  auschopfendes  Wort,  ja  in 
eine  Gebarde  zusammenzudrangen,  ist  von  friih  an  Kleist  Art  gewesen:  die  Art  des  echten 
Drajpatikers."    Of.  also:  Minde-Pouet,  1.  c.  54.   We  see  that  it  was  equally  the  manner  of  Hebbel. 

In  the  narratives  of  the  Romanticists  such  dramatic  pauses  are  avoided,  sometimes  by 
humming  up  the  entire  scene  in  a  third-person  narrative  (Hoffmann's  Majorat,  where  the  inter- 
views between  the  two  rivaling  brothers,  their  love  for  the  same  woman,  the  despair  of  the  j^ounger 
on  discovering  the  elder's  marriage,  are  all  told  in  the  cool  words  of  the  old  lawyer),  at  others 
by  making  a  dispassionate  character  talk  on  calmly  while  we  can  imagine  the  affected  person 
struggling  with  his  grief.  This  is  the  case  in  Tiecke's  "Ekbert"  (Wks.,  1828,  Vol.  IV,  p.  169), 
where  the  old  woman  calmly  continues  her  conversation  with  Ekbert  after  the  latter  has  fallen 
^to  the  ground  in  the  stress  of  his  emotions. 

^  Of.  E.  Schmidt,  Charakteristiken,  358  ff. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  61 

mental  struggle,"  and  tliougli  the  world  condemns  them,  the  poet  treats 
then- actionals  a  matter  of  course.  While  the  priestly  fanatic  and  the 
infuriated  mob  turn  against  them,  the  noble  and  refined  family  of  Don 
Fernando  stand  their  firm  friends  and  rejoice  in  the  possession  of  their 
orphaned  child.  Nowhere  is  this. motif. of  impulsiveness  more  emphat- 
ically expressed  thanin  '^Die  yerlobung."  w]prr  TiiTll'ff  --^-•—  »^»Trr . 
i^k  to  soul-life  dates  from  the  rousing  of  he^instincta/  "So  iibernahm 
sie,  von  manchen  Seiten  geweckt,  ein  menschliches  Gefiihl;  sie  folgte 
ihm  mit  einer  plotzlichen  Bewegung,  fiel  ihm  um  den  Hals,  undmischte 
ihre  Thranen  mit  den  seinigen."  In  "Zweikampf"  Friedrich  needs  no 
proof  to  believe  in  Littegarde's  innocence:  "In  meiner  Brust  spricht 
eine  Stimme  fiir  euch  weit  lebhafter  und  uberzeugender  als  alle  Ver- 
sicherungen,  ja  selbst  als  alle  Rechtsgrunde,  die  ihr  .  .  .  fiir  euch 
auf zubringen  vermocht. ' '  Nor  is  this  confidence  shaken  by  the  apparent 
condemnation  of  the  combat.  When  Littegarde  is  in  despair,  he  calls 
to  her:  "Thiirme  das  Gefiihl,  das  in  deiner  Brust  lebt,  wie  einen  Felsen 
empor,  halte  dich  daran  und  wanke  nicht,  und  wenn  Erd'  und  Himmel 
unter  dir  und  fiber  dir  zu  Grunde  gingen!" 

In  Ilebbel's  stories  we  find  this  note  particularly  clear  in  the  five 
tales  in  which  passion  plays  a  strong  part.  Zitterlein's  mad  rush  from 
home,  his  desire  to  murder,  his  sudden  revulsion  of  feeling  at  the 
gypsy's  song,  are  the  acts  of  an  impulsive  nature.  Attention  has 
already  been  called  to  the  similarity  between  this  scene  and  the  crisis  in 
"Marquise."^  In  "Die  Kuh"  the  catastrophe  is  brought  about  by 
the  same  means — the  yielding  to  violent  rage  and  then  to  equally  violent 
remorse — which  Kleist  employed  in  ''Verlobung."  In  "Matteo"  the 
instinct  to  honesty  and  kindness  defeats  in  each  case  his  determination 
to  murder  and  rob.  Even  at  the  moment  when  he  thinks  he  has 
nerved  himself  to  his  first  crime  he  instinctively  stops  on  his  way  to 
warn  the  unsuspecting  owner,  whom  he  sees  about  to  be  robbed.  Anna 
is  a  creature  of  impulse.  In  the  catastrophe  there  appear  the  same 
features  of  violent  anger  and  despairing  regret  which  "Verlobung," 
"Kuh,"  and  "Matteo"  revealed.  And  her  lover  is  as  impulsive  as  the 
heroine  herself.  His  wild  rush  into  the  night  after  the  scene  in  the 
flax-room,  his  attack  on  the  young  lord,  are  prompted  by  the  same  force 
of  feeling.  A  strong  reminder  of  Kohlhaas  is  Friedrich's  acquiescence 
in  his  punishment  after  his  rage  is  satisfied:  "Dann  liess  er  die  Bauern, 
die  sich  auf  Befehl  des  Schulzen  seiner  Person  zu  bemachtigen  suchten, 
ruhig  gewahren."     So,  also,  we  read  of  Kohlhaas,  his  revenge  being 

»Cf.  p.  17. 


62  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

satisfied,  "Demnach  glich  nichts  der  Euhe  mid  Zufriedenheit  seiner 
letzten  Tage."  In  "Findling"  Piachi,  after  killing  Nicolo,  displays  the 
same  calm:  ''Dies  abgemacht,  stand  er,  indem  er  alle  seine  Waffen 
abgab,  auf,  ward  ins  Gefangniss  gesetzt, — "  In  all  these  cases  the 
satisfaction  of  the  overmastering  desire  gives  the  feeling  of  absolute 
calm  and  indifference  to  any  mere  external  misfortune.  In  "Rubin" 
Assad  is  willing  to  undergo  death  rather  than  part  with  the  stone  to 
which  he  has  no  right  that  reason  can  defend:  "  '1st  Dir  dein  Diebstahl 
nicht  leid?'  fragte  der  Greis.  'Nein,'  versetzte  Assad  schnell  und 
bestimmt,  'ich  weiss  nicht,  waB  mich  an  diesen  Stein  kettet,  aber  es 
mag  gut  sein,  dass  ich  sterben  muss,  denn  ich  fuhl's,  ehe  ich  ihn  in  den 
Handen  eines  Anderen  liesse,  konnt'  ich  mich  mit  Raub  und  Mord 
beflecken.'  "^ 

As  an  outward  symbol  of  this  highly  emotional  impulsiveness,  both 
^authors  recognize  the  tendency  to  frequent  and  violent  changes  of  color 
in  persons  of  violent  temperament.  Not  less  than  fifty-eight  times  does 
Kleist  mention  the  change  of  color  by  which  the  strong  emotions  of  his 
characters  are  accompanied.  He  has  a  great  variety  of  expression  to 
indicate  the  varying  appearance  of  different  individuals  under  the  stress 
of  emotion.  "Kohlhaas":  "Der  Kurfiirst — iiber  und  iiber  roth." 
"Der  Knecht,  auf  dessen  blassem  Gesicht  sich  bei  diesen  Worten  eine 
^Rothe  fleckig  zeigte."  "Zweikampf":  "Vor  Entriistung  flammend." 
^Marquise":  "Seine  Lippen  waren  weiss  wie  Kreide,"  "Indessen 
Blasse  des  Todes  ihr  Antlitz  iiberflog,"  etc.,  etc. 

Not  quite  so  frequent,  yet  sufficiently  so  to  be  worthy  of  remark,  is 
Hebbel's  use  of  this  feature.  In  all,  he  observes  the  change  of  color 
thirty-one  times,  employing  expressions  as  varied  as  those  of  Kleist. 
"Nacht  im  Jagerhause":  "Der  Jager  ergliihte  und  iiber." 
"Zitterlein":  "Ein  letzter  Anflug  von  Rothe  kehrte  auf  seine 
Wangen."  "Anna":  "Zorngliihenden  Gesichts."  "Mit  blassen, 
bebenden Lippen."  "Rubin":  "Kreideweiss  geworden."  "Schnock": 
"Zur  Leiche  erblasst,"  etc.,  etc. 

II.  Pessimism 

A  strong  note  of  pessimism  is  struck  several  times  in  Kleist's  novels. 
It  TlHdS  fi^pression  directly  m  incidental  remarks.  "'KolilJiaas'": 
"Ohne  irgend  weiter  ein  bitteres  Gefiihl,  als  das  der  allgemeinen  Noth 
der  Welt."     "Denn  ein  richtiges,  mit  der  gebrechlichen  Einrichtung 

*In  Hebbel's  fragmentary  drama  "Ditmarschen,"  the  heroine  exclaims,  "Verwirrt  mir 
nicht  mein  Inneres,"  which  sounds  exactly  like  Kleist  (cf.  Fries,  Fragmente,  17). 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  63 

der  Welt  schon  bekanntes  Gefiihl."  ^'Marquise":  *'Um  der  gebrech- 
lichen  Einrichtung  der  Welt  willen."  Indirectly  we  find  it  as  an 
undercurrent  in  many  of  his  stories.  In  "Kohlhaas"  the  injustice  of 
thej^wMjat^lar^e  is  taken  for  granted.  Not  only"does  the  matter-of- 
fact  tone  of  the  hero's  remarks,  which  are  quoted  above,  show  this,  but 
also  the  fact  that  the  intervention  of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  was 
motived  partly  by  the  political  situation  (IV,  130).  Self-interest, 
corruption  at  court,  the  suppression  of  the  weak  by  the  strong,  the 
brutality  of  the  Elector's  boayguard,  lliiiyy  fOfbi  ilie  world  that  is  here 
displayed.  Not  much  more  cheerful  is  the  world  in  which  the  Marquise 
von  0.  is  led  to  forgive  the  deed  of  the  count  becausn  af  l,liH  jtcttwrI 
wickedness  of  mankind.  (IV,  58).  In  ^^Erdbeben'^  fanaticism  and 
brutaltlv  uaiiv  tiho  day  o^m  lu^o,  repentance,  and  gentleness.  In 
*'Verlobung"  tne  display  of  the  wild-beast  instincts  of  a  half  civilized 
people  is  less  appalling  than  the  mad  inconsiderateness  of  the  hero. 
In  "Findling"  dishonesty,  bigotry,  sensuality,  and  selfishness  are  seen 
to  be  too  strong  for  the  noble,  the  generous,  and  the  pure-hearted.* 

That  Hebbel  was  impressed  by  this  pessimism  is  evident  from  an 
entry  in  his  diary  in  1838:^  *'Es  fragt  sich  ob,  wenn  Heinrich  von 
Kleist  das  Gebrechliche  der  Welteinrichtung  zeigt,  er  nicht  dadurch 
mehr  erhebt,  als  wenn  er  sie  priese."  Many  passages  from  his  letters 
and  diaries  show  the  same  gloomy  view  of  the  world  and  man's  chances 
for  happiness.  '*Ich  bin  von  Dank  gegen  Gott  erfiillt,"  he  writes* 
when  his  * 'Judith"  was  accepted,  '*furchte  mich  aber  vor  dem  Ungliick, 
das  auf  so  viel  Gliick  folgen  kann."  In  "Schlagel"  he  also  speaks  of 
the  "Unvollkommenheit  alles  Irdischen." 

The  undertone  of  Hebbel 's  stories  is  more  grotesquely  pessimiatic 
than  that  of  Kleist's.     The  picture  of  a  world  in  which  the  criminalX 
sits  on  the  bench  of  justice  and  pronounces  sentence  on  the  innocent,    j 
which  Kleist  paints  in  ''Der  zerbrochene  Krug,"  and  which  is  carrie^/ 
out  to  an  almost  farcical  extreme  in  Hebbel's  "Trauerspiel  in  Sicilien," 
is  presented  in  "Matteo'''  when  the  would-be   murderer  catches  the 
would-be  thief  and  finds  that  he  has  saved  the  property  of  a  mean-souled 
miser,  who  is  at  heart  worse  than  the  real  criminals  (VIII,  209).*     In 
"Vagabunden"  the  two  scamps  work  upon  the  gullibility  of  a  conceited 

»  Pinower/'Kohlhaas"  1.  c,  333.  "Tgb.  I,  107;   Br.  I,  45. 

3  Tb.  I,  208. 

*  Note  that  Matteo,  like  Kohlhaas,  stands  astonished  at  the  world,  with  its  contradictions 
and  misunderstandings.  Like  Anton  in  "Maria  Magdalena,"  both  seem  to  cry  out:  *'Ich 
verstehe  die  Welt  nicht  mehr."  Hebbel's  affinity  with  the  Romanticists  in  this  novel  is  pointed 
out  by  Collin  (Grenzboten,  1894,  p.  148). 


64  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

fool  and  incidentally  pose  as  honest  men  by  catching  the  thief,  who  is 
trying  to  rob  their  host  (VIII,  133).  In  *'Anna"  brutality,  coarseness, 
envy,  and  malice  reign  supreme,  while  the  only  good  people  are  wrecked 
by  their  passion  and  lack  of  restraint.  In  **Die  Kuh"  it  seems  as 
though  innocent  childhood  and  inanimate  objects  united  in  a  diabolical 
scheme  to  wreck  an  entire  family.^  Thus  with  both  authors  impulsive 
men  and  women  are  set  in  a  corrupt  and  perverse  world  which  arouses 
their  antagonism  without  teaching  them  restraint  and  wisdom. 

///.  Irony 

Minor,  who  has  touched  upon  this  subject  in  the  article  on  Kleist 
already  mentioned,^  says,  "Fast  in  jedem  Stiick  darf  er  sich  die  kiihne 
Ironie  erlauben,  dass  die  handelnden  Personen  das  als  ganz  unmoglich  . 
voraussetzen,  was  zuletzt  auf  ganz  natiirlichem  Wege  wirklich 
^eschieht."  Among  the  numerous  examples  the  most  startling  is  in 
i^^Marguise,"  where  the  hfirolr'^  Hia|y|^pgpa  jn  a  joke  her  real  condition 
(IV,  22).  In  the  same  spirit  Jakob,  in  Hebbel's  "Vagabunden,."  says 
with  delightful  naivete:  "Damals  hielt  ich  mich  namlich  selber  fiir 
dumm."  And  Schnock  is  quite  astonished  that  he  should  ever  labor 
under  the  hallucination  that  he  is  a  coward:  "Weil  ich,  Stunden  wie 
diese  ausgenommen,  selbst  das  ganze  Jahr  hindurch,  Gott  weiss  woran 
es  liegt,  selberg  laube  dass  ich's  (feig)  bin. "  Allied  to  this  form  of  irony- 
is  that  in  which  the  speaker  reveals  a  quality  of  his  nature  cimfe  different  , 
*  'irom  _wn^  hm  thinViJin  in  "i  i  ii^'  g  Thus  the  rich  brewer  in 
"Zitterlein"  says  as  an  example  of  his  superior  fortitude  under  stress  of 
trouble:  "Schicksal,  Schicksal,  .  .  .  Als  hier  vor  ungefilhr  zwanzig 
Jahren  das  grosse  Viehsterben  war,  verier  ich  dreizehn  Ochsen  und  einige 
Pferde,  prachtige,  wohlgenahrte  Thiere,  doch  ich  dachte:  der  Himmel 
will's  und  ranch te  ruhig  meine  Pfeife.  Dem  Barbier  stirbt  sein  Weib, 
und  er  wird  verriickt.     So  geht's." 

T^nf.h  flntjinr"  ahfuw  u  f^n^ness  for  depicting  the  i^'ogyg^  fate. 
Often  tlie  hero's  action  is  made  to  bring  about  a  result  thej^ery  opposite 
orthSl  which  he  had  plannea.  this  appears  in  Kleist  in  the  fate  of^ 
TBti  *iuulor  Uf  Saxony,  in  tne  tragic  result  of  Toni's  diplomacy  in 
"Verlobung,"  and  in  the  horrible  fate  brought  upon  Eoderigo  and 
Josephe  in  "Erdbehen."  through  the  fanaticism  of  a  priest,  at  the  very 
moment  when  their  hearts  were  unlifted  in  wnrsl^ip.      !r>    MehlipL  it 

» Halm  (Wks.  XII,  253),  whose  own  novels  show  the  influence  of  Kleist  and  bear  many 
points  of  similarity  to  those  of  Hebbel,  is  struck  with  the  "versohnungslose  Pessimismus"  that 
forms  the  keynote  of  this  novel. 

aEuph.  I,  p.  582. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 


65 


appears  in  almost  every  story.  Zitterlein's  suspicions  and  rudeness 
fairly  force  Agathe  and  Leonhardt  together.  Assad  wins  his  princess  by 
the  very  act  which  he  had  expected  would  sever  them  forever; 
Schnock's  efforts  to  frighten  Lene  away  from  himself  had  the  opposite 
effect  of  attaching  her  the  more  closely  to  him,  but  bringing  on  him  the 
enmity  of  his  able-bodied  apprentice. 

Incidentally  we  may  note  the  recurrence  of  certain  devices  in  both 
writers,  (^ire^s  a  favorite  method  with  Kleist  of  hrinorinor  ahmtt  iha 
catastrophe.  In  *'Kohlhaafl,^^  ^^ATarquise,^'  ^^Findling,"  "Erdbeben,^^ 
*^l!ettienn,^'  a  fire  is  most  effectively  used  and  is  often  described  at 
length  and  with  great  power.  The  same  is  true  of  Hebbel's  "Anna' 
and  "Die  Kuh,"  in  the  former  of  which  the  description  bears  some 
similarity  to  that  inKleist's  ^'Marquise  von  0."  The  horrible  manner 
in  which  the  child  is  murdered  in  ''Erdbeben"(IV,  15)  and  in  which 
Gnstav  dies  in  **Verlobung"  (IV,  188)  is  repeated  in  Hebbel's  '*Kuh" 
(VIII,  248)  and  partly  in  "Matteo"  (VIII,  213). 

SUMMARY 


Glancing  back  over  the  way  we  have  come,  we  find  as  definite  results 
from  the  analysis  of  the  narrative  prose  of  the  two  writers:  (1)  the 
dramatic  structure,  which  appears  in  the  concentrated  form  and  regular 
bund  01  tn(§~TinT^"  'and  also  in  the  absolute  retirement  of  the  author 

behind  the  characters;   (2)   the  g9fl(;',ftnf,r^,t.fon  nf  infnrnnfi  nw^^hft  rhn.ra.p- 

ters,  who  are,  moreover,  conceived  not  as  complete  but  as  growing  and 
changing.  Again,  the  ^"^^fitiYity  of  tllf .  fllltj?,f7°  appears  in  the  manner 
in  which  these  characters  reveal  themselves  by  their  actions.  These 
points  make  the  stories  of  Kleist  and  Hebbel  the  direct  forerunners  of 
the  modern  novel  as  represented  by  Gottfried  Keller  and  Theodor  Fon- 
tane.  These  traits  appear  in  the  outer  as  well  as  in  the  inner  form  of 
the  novels.  Hence  the  terseness  of  description,  the  slight  scope  given  to 
external  nature,  the  restricted  use  of  figures  of  speech,  the  curt,  suggest- 
ive dialogue.  Finally  we  find  a  f  ondQ^sa  for  certain  motif  s.  We  see  tha^ 
Kleist,  while  he  struck  his  roots  deep  into  the  earth  about  him,  developed  | 
a  disjyjygnndmduality,  essentially  different  from  his  compeers.  With  the 
lOmanticigtif  we  saw,  he  had  in  common  a  number  of  traits  and  motifs, 
stron  as  mysticism,  love  of  the  past  and  of  foreign  scenes,  etc.  From 
them  he  differed  most  in  his  conception  of  the  mission  and  the  field  of 
art.  For  the  Romanticists  the  novel  was  merely  a  vehicle  for  the  most 
intensive  expression  of  subjective  feeling.     They  declare  this  frequently 


\ 


* 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

p.  their   theoretical   writings/   and   it  is   plainly  apparent  in    their 
roductions.^     They  were  strong  in  color  and  atmosphere,  but  weak  in 
he  plastic  art  of  shaping  figures.'     Their   intense  self -consciousness 
anifests  itself  on  the  one  hand  in  the  poetiT^ron^wETcirnirneffTne 
eapons  of  the  author  against  his  characters,*  on  the  other  in  the 
^jl^^jjSi^jUi^Qt^^^^  his  own  person. 

With  Goethe  and  Schiller,  Kleist  showed  the  p^jyol^^lnyififll  interest 
and  the  clear  narrative  style  which  condemns  intrusion  on  the  part  of  the 
author.  The  first  German  psychological  novel  worthy  of  the  name  was 
Wieland's  ''Agathon."^  In  Blankenburg's  theoretical  treatment  of  the 
novel*  the  development  of  character  was  for  the  first  time  announced  as 
the  main  object  of  the  prose  novel,  and  *'Agathon"  was  held  up  as  an 
example.  Schiller's  "Verbrecher  aus  verlorener  Ehre"  has  for  its 
object  the  development  of  character.  To  it  Kleist's  ''Michael  Kohl- 
haas"  bears  many  points  of  similarity.  The  traces  of  Wolff's  degeneracy 
are  followed  to  their  earliest  sources  in  much  the  same  manner  as  that 
in  which  Hebbel  traces  back  Schnock's  cowardice.  Goethe's  h^roej^ 
also  are  roj^ftinrTit'''^  '"  *^"''*  P^T^r^Txr^v.  ^^^^  development  as  is  best  illus- 
trated in  "Wilhelm  Meister."  The  Romanticists  aimed  at  the  same 
result.  William  Lovell,  Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen,  Franz  Sternbald, 
like  Wilhelm  Meister,  are  sent  out  into  the  world  to  acquire  the  art  of 
living,  ^iit  we  do  not  feel  that  they  were  more  developed  at  the 
than  they  were  at  the  beginning.  ^  What  Kerr  says  of  Brentano  is  true 
of  them  all:  "Brentanos  Thiitigkeit  liegt  zum  allergrossten  Theil  darin, 
fertigeVerhaltsisse  zu  erklaren,  zum  winzigsten  sie  vorwarts  zu  fiihren.'" 
Added  to  this  is  the  lack  of  initiative,  of  decisive  will-power  which  all 


*So  Novalis  could  imagine  tales  "ohne  Zusammenhang,  mit  Associationen  wie  Tra.ume." 
(Cf.  Kerr,  Godwi,  p.  vi.)  F.  Schlegel  (Wks.,  1846,  Vol.  VIII,  26  ff.)  in  his  discussion  of  Boccaccio 
gives  the  most  satisfactory  exposition  of  the  romantic  view  of  the  novel.  "Die  Novelle  namlich 
ist  sehr  geeignet,  eine  subjective  Stimmung  und  Ansicht,  und  zwar  die  tiefsten  und  eigentiim- 
lichsten  derselben  indirect  und  gleichsam  sinnbildlich  darzustellen.  .  .  .  Man  isolire  diese 
natiiraliche  Eigenart  der  Novelle,  man  gebe  ihr  die  h6chste  Kraft  und  Ausbildung,  und  so  ent- 
steht  jene  oben  erwahnte  Art  derselben,  die  ich  die  symbolische  nennen  mOchte,  in  welcher  sich 
das  subjective  Geflihl  in  seiner  ganzen  Tiefe  ausspricht,  und  die  wenigstens,  .  .  .  sich  immer 
als  der  Gipfel  und  die  eigentliche  Bluthe  der  ganzen  Gattung  bewahren  wird." 

''For  this  reason  Novalis  preferred  the  fairy  tale  material  (cf .  Heilborn,  Novalis,  197),  and 
Arnim's  "Kronenwachter"  loses  much  oTTBB"ffffW?Sr'fBSPrifoife  and  action  deserve,  through 
the  breaks  in  the  motivation  and  the  unequal  flow  of  the  narrative. 

3Cf.  R.  M.  Meyer,  Litt.  d.  XIX  Jhdts.,  p.  12.  Also  Rehorn,  1.  c,  p.  85.  Also  Farinelli 
Grillparzer  and  Lope  de  Vega,  p.  23. 

*  Kerr,  1.  c,  81.  F.  Schlegel  (1.  c,  27)  calls  the  short  story:  eine  Geschichte  also,  die  streng 
genommen,  nicht  zur  Geschichte  gehOrt,  und  die  Anlage  zur  Ironie  schon  in  der  Geburtsstunde 
mit  auf  die  Welt  bringt." 

"Rehorn,  1.  c,  48  ff.  « Riemann,  1.  c,  192  S. 

'  Kerr,  Godwi,  p.  97. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL  67 

these  heroes  inherited  from  Wilhelm  Meister.*  We  have  seen  above 
how  greatly  this  differed  from  Kleist.  To  quote  from  Goedeke:^  *'An 
Heinrich  von  Kleist's  geschlossene  Gestaltung  reichte  keiner  von  seinen 
Zeitgenossen. "  We  saw  that  Hebbel  laid  the  emphasis  upon  the  same 
point.  Many  expressions  from  his  diaries  and  letters  emphasize  his 
interest  in  objective  characterization.  To  quote  one  of  the  most 
characteristic:  *'Ein  Lump,  der  es  so  recht  von  innen  heraus  ist,  kann 
mit  grosstem  Recht  zu  Socrates  und  Plato  sagen:  nehmt  mich,  wie  ich 
bin,  ich  muss  Euch  ja  auch  nehmen,  wie  Ihr  seyd."^ 

We  see,  then,  that  Kleist  followed  in  Goethe's  footsteps  in  two 
important  points  of  his  narrative  technique:  in  objectivity  of  treatment 
and  in  interest  in  characters.  But  however  far  Kleist  remained  behind 
Goethe  in  breadth  of  view  and  aesthetic  polish,  he  surpassed  him  in 
sweep  of  passion  and  onward  rush  of  action.  Julian  Schmidt  has 
brought  out  this  contrast  forcibly:  '* Goethe  sieht  in  seinen  Novelleu 
mit  behaglichem  Erstaunen  den  bunten  Arabesken  zu,  die  seine 
Phantasie  ihm  eingiebt;  man  folgt  ihm  mit  heiteren  Antheil,  ohne 
grosse  Aufregung;  bei  Kleist  wiirde  man  gar  nicht  aus  dem  Krampf 
kommen,  wenn  er  nicht — wenigstens  bis  zu  einem  gewissen  Punkt 
hin,  .  .  .  diekiinstlerische  Besonnenheit  bewahrte."*  This  passionate 
onrush  of  the  action  forms  another  strong  point  of  deviation  from  the 
willfulness  of  the  Romanticists,  whose  wayward  fancy  now  turned  men 
and  women  into  stones  and  trees  and  again  peopled  the  wilds  of  nature 
with  fantastic,  half  human  forms. 

The  Young  Germans,  like  the  Romanticists,  saw  in  the  narrative 
form  of  expression  an  organ  for  the  propagation  of  their  views  on 
social,  political,  and  religious  questions.  What  they  lacked  of  Roman- 
tic poetry  and  ''Stimmung,"  they  supplied  with  intellectual  aper9us 
and  philosophic  reflection.  Thus  the  structure  of  the  novel  was  loosened 
by  multiplicity  of  interests,  torn  asunder  by  the  insertion  of  extraneous 
incidents,  the  dialogue  was  often  foreign  to  the  action,  artistic 
objectivity  was  lost  through  the  obtrusion  of  the  author.  On  the 
whole,  neither  Romanticists  nor  Young  Germans  seem  to  have  turned 
to  the  novel  as  to  an  art  form  worth  cultivating  for  its  own  sake. 

In  Kleist,  the  dramatist  creates  out  of  the  subjectivity  of  the 
Romanticists  on  the  one  hand,  which  threatened  to  burst  asunder  the 
form  of  the  novel,  and  the  broad  universality  of  Goethe  on  the  other, 
which  excluded  great  force  of  passion,  a  form  that  was  exceedingly 

^  Mielke,  p.  31  flf.  «  Grundriss,  VI,  p.  375. 

» Tgb.  II,  p.,  47.  *  Cf.  Schmidt,  Introd.  to  Wks.,  I,  p.  ciii. 


68  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

well  adapted  for  the  modern  ideas  of  which  he  was  the  pioneer.  We 
have  seen  that  Hebbel,  walking  in  Kleist's  footsteps,  was  less  successful 
in  his  use  of  this  form  of  literature.  He  was  well  aware  of  this.  In 
1840  he  writes:  *'Ich  bin  immer  gleich  zu  Ende;  wenn  die  Gedanken 
aus  sind,  ist  es  mit  der  Schreiblust  gewiss  vorbei,  und  meistens  schon 
viel  friiher.  Deswegen  taug'  ich  auch  nicht  zum  Erzahler,  so  leicht  es 
mir  sonst  anch  wird,  Situationen  u.d.gl.  zu  erfinden.  Ich  komme  nie 
ordentlich  in  den  Gang,  alles  scheint  mir  so  unwichtig,  so  liber- 
fliissig,  .  .  ."^  No  better  explanation  could  be  found  of  the  flaws  in 
Hebbel's  narrative  style.  As  we  saw  in  the  above  sbudy,  he  insisted 
on  the  dramatic  note  more  strongly  than  Kleist,  both  in  his  use  of 
dialogue  and  the  severe  compactness  of  his  form.  Kleist  evaded  the 
former  danger  by  the  extensive  use  of  indirect  discourse,  keeping  the 
narrative  flow  of  events  unbroken  except  in  moments  of  intense  excite- 
ment. He  gives  an  epic  calm  to  his  style  and  a  feeling  of  repose, 
occasionally,  by  means  of  genre  pictures  such  as  that  of  Jeronimo  and 
Josephe  in  the  moonlight  pomegranate  grove  ("Erdbeben,  p.  7), 
Kohlhaas  nursing  his  sick  child  (p.  134),  the  Marquise  calmly  "knitting 
little  stockings  for  little  legs"  in  her  arbor  (p.  40),  Elvire  sewing  by 
the  light  of  her  lamp  (pp.  215  ff.),  etc.  Hence  Brahm  said  of  Kleist: 
"Er  riickte  die  Erziihlung  eng  an  das  Drama  heran  und  iibertrug  auf 
sie  die  kiinstlerischen  Erfahrungen,  welche  er  bei  diesem  gemacht; 
aber  er  blieb  sich  auch  des  Trennenden  gut  bewusst  und  erschuf  sich 
selbstandig  eine  Gattung,  welche  in  der  Geschichte  der  Novelle  eine 
neue  Entwicklung  bedeutet."^ 

We  saw  above  that  Hebbel  used  the  direct  dialogue  more  extensively 
than  Kleist,  and  in  the  rush  of  events  he  gave  no  resting  place  such  as 
we  found  in  Kleist.  His  "Anna,"  "Kuh,"  "Haidvogel,"  "Matteo," 
are  gloomy  pictures  filled  with  horrible  or  squalid  misery  and  without 
a  moment's  relief.  They  seem  like  an  exaggeration  of  Kleist's  style  and 
manner,  in  the  clearness  and  sharpness  of  the  wording,  which,  without 
any  extenuating  or  explanatory  softening,  cuts  like  steel.'  The  sto- 
ries pass  in  a  series  of  sharply  defined  situations  in  which  characters 
clash  upon  one  another  and  events  follow  events  in  a  climax  that  is 
painful  in  its  pitilessness. 

In  later  years  Hebbel  felt  this  very  strongly  himself:  "...  ich 
fing  mit  Erzahlungen  an  und  fand  meinen  Euhepunkt  im  Drama." 

1  Bfw.  I,  92.     Also  Bfw.  I,  p.  54;  II,  p.  164;  II,  p.  22;  II,  p.  220;  also  Kulke,  Errinnerungen 
an  Friedrich  Hebbel,  Wien,  1878,  p.  75. 
2Cf.  Brahm,  1.  c,  151. 
sCf.  Kilhne's  criticism  of  "Schnock,"  Bfw.  I,  p.  433,  and  Bartels,  F.  Hebbe  ,  44. 


KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 


IV.     BOOKS  AND  ARTICLES  QUOTED 

EDITIONS 

Werner,  R.  M.:    Friedrich  Hebbel,  Samtliche  Werke.     Berlin,  1901. 
Zolling,  Theophil:    Heinrich  von  Kleists  Samtliche  Werke.     Deutsche  National- 
Litteratur.     Berlin  and  Stuttgart  s.  a.   (1885). 

LETTERS  AND  DIARIES 

Bamberg,   Felix:    Friedrich  Hebbels   Brief wechsel  mit  Freunden  und  beriihmten 

Zeitgenossen.     Berlin    1890-2. 
Bamberg,  Felix:    Friedrich  Hebbels  Tagebiicher.     Berlin,  1885-7. 
Biedermann,  Karl:  Heinrich  von  Kleists  Brief e  an  seine  Braut.     Breslau,  1884. 
Koberstein,  A.:    Heinrich  von  Kleists  Briefe  an  seine  Schwester  Ulrike.     Berlin, 

1860. 
Werner,  R.  M.:   Friedrich  Hebbels  Briefe,  Nachlese.     Berlin,  1900. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Aliskiewicz,  A.:   Friedrich  Hebbels  aesthetische  Ansichten.     Brody,  1900, 
Anonymous:    Heinrich  von  Kleist  und  Friedrich  Hebbel.     AUgemeine  Zeitung 

(Augsburg).  Beilage,  1882,  No.  293. 
Badstueber,  Hubert:   Heinrich  von  Kleist,  Sein  Leben  und  seine  Werke.     Wien, 

1902. 
Bamberg,  Felix:  AUgemeine  deutsche  Biographie  (Kleist  and  Hebbel).     Leipzig, 

1880. 
Bartels,  A.:   Der  Sieg  Hebbels,  Deutsche  Monatsschrift.     II,  1  (1902). 
1/ Biese,  Alfred:    Die  Entwickelung  des  Naturgefiihls  im  Mittelalter  und  in  der 

Neuzeit.     Leipzig,  1892. 
Bischoff,  H.:  Laokoon  und  Heinrich  von  Kleist.     Zeitschrift  f.  d.  dtsch.     Unter- 

richt  XII,  348. 
Bonafons,  R. :   Henri  de  Kleist,  sa  Vie  et  ses  Oeuvres.     Paris,  Hachette,  1894. 
v-^Brahm,  Otto:    Heinrich  von  Kleist.     Berlin,  1884. 
Bijlow,  Ed.:    Heinrich  von  Kleists  Leben  und  Briefe.     Berlin,  1848. 
Collin:   Die  Weltanschauung  der  Romantik  und  Friedrich  Hebbel.     Grenzboten, 

1894. 
Donner,  D.:    Der  Einflusz  Wilhelm  Meisters  auf  den  Roman  der  Romantiker. 

Berlin,  1893.     Review  by  Walzel,  Anzeiger  f.  d.  Altertum,  XXII,  219. 
Farinelli,  A.:   Grillparzer  und  Lope  de  Vega.     Berlin,  1894. 
ViFeierfeil,  Geo.:    "Die  Verlobung  in  St.  Domingo"  von  H.  v.  K.  und  Theodor 

Komers   "Toni."     Jahresbericht  des   offentlichen   Stiftsobergymnasiums  in 

Braunau.     1892. 
Fischer,  H.:    Klassizismus  und  Romantik  in  Schwaben  zu  Anfang  unseres  Jahr 

hunderts.     Tiibingen,   1891. 
Friedmann,  L.:    II  drama  tedesco  del  nostro  secolo.     Milano,  1893.     Transl.  by 

Weber.     Leipzig,  1900. 


70  KLEIST  AND  HEBBEL 

Fries,  A.:    Vergleichende  Studien  zu  Hebbels  Fragmenten  nebst  Miscellen  zu 
seinen  Werken  und  Tagebiichern.     Berlin,  1903. 

V  Fiirst,  R.:   Die  Vorlaufer  der  modernen  Novelle  im  18.  Jhrh.     Halle,  1897. 

V  Gaudig,  H.:   Aus  deutschen  Lesebiichern  5,  IV.     Gera  und  Leipzig,  1899. 
Georgy,  Ernst:   Die  Tragodie  Friedrich  Hebbels  nach  ihrem  Ideengehalt.     Leip- 
zig, 1904. 

Grimm,  H.:   Fiinfzehn  Essays.    Erste  Folge.     Berlin,  1884  (3d  ed.). 
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